?T 

&084 
1906 


UC-NRLF 


b  ^  is?  151 


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'Can't  you  trust  me?      I'm  an  hcnest  man." 


JEPPE  ON  THE  HILL 

OR 

THE  TRANSFORMED  PEASANT 

A  COMEDY  IN  FIVE  ACTS 

TRANSLATED  FROM  THE  DANISH 
OF  LUDVIG  HOLBERG 

BY 

WALDEMAR  C.  WESTERGAARD 

AND 

MARTIN  B.  RUUD 


WITH  A  BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCH  OF  HOLBERG  BY  MORRIS 

JOHNSON  AND  AN  INTRODUCTION  BY 

W.  C.  WESTERGAARD 


FIRST  PLAYED  IN  COPENHAGEN  IN  1722 


WITH  ILLUSTRATIONS 


PUBLISHED  BY  THE  MIMER  CLUB  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY 
OF  NORTH  DAKOTA 


1906 

THE  EVENING  TIMES  COMPANY 

GRAND  FORKS,  N.  D. 


Copyrighted  1906  by 

W.  C,  WESTERGAARD 


PT908' 


LUDVIG  HOLBERG 


In  the  fifteenth  and  sixteenth  centuries  two  great 
spiritual  movements  spread  over  Europe,  the  Renais- 
sance and  the  Reformation.  The  former  was  confined 
principally  to  southern  Europe,  and  did  not  influence 
the  life  or  literature  of  the  Scandinavian  countries  to 
any  great  extent.  The  Reformation,  however,  caused 
a  new  tho  brief  literary  era,  especially  in  Denmark, 
where  the  mother  tongue  was  again  accorded  its  proper 
place,  and  the  people  again  began  to  think  of  a  national 
future. 

Much  had  conspired  to  make  the  people  of  Europe 
lose  faith  in  the  old  ideas.  Copernicus  had  demonstrated 
that  the  earth  was  only  a  planet  in  an  immense  system, 
and  Kepler  and  Galileo  had  taught  that  the  earth  circled 
about  the  sun,  and  that  there  was  order  and  regularity 
in  the  movements  of  the  heavenly  bodies.  Finally  New- 
ton announced  his  principle  that  the  law  of  gravitation 
governed  each  and  every  one  of  these  movements.  All 
this  together  with  the  geographical  discoveries  of  Col- 
umbus, Magellan,  De  Gama  and  others,  revolutionized 
people's  ideas  of  the  universe  and  of  the  earth. 

In  December,  1684,  just  two  weeks  before  Newton 
gave  his  first  public  lecture  explaining  his  discovery, 
a  child  who  was  destined  to  become  the  founder  of  the 
Danish-Norwegian  literature  was  born  in  Bergen,  Nor- 
way. That  child  was  Ludvig  Holberg.  His  parents  died 
while  the  boy  was  but  a  few  years  old,  and  he  was 
brought  up  by  relatives.  Too  weakly  and  small  to  be- 
come a  military  man  as  his  father  had  been,  he  was 
sent  to  the  "Latin  School"  at  Bergen.  Eighteen  years 
old  he  became  a  student  at  the  University  of  Copen- 
hagen. Two  years  later  he  became  a  student  of  theology. 
Lack  of  means  compelled  him  to  return  to  Bergen  as 
a  private  tutor.  But  he  soon  determined  to  travel,  and 
with  a  small  sum  of  money  he  set  out  for  Amsterdam. 


16685« 


JEPPE  ON  THE  HILL 


After  considerable  sickness  and  misfortune  he  returned 
to  Norway.  In  1706  there  followed  a  journey  to  Eng- 
land, where  two  years  were  spent,  largely  in  study  at  Ox- 
ford. Later  he  made  four  other  journeys  to  foreign 
countries.  Two  years  were  spent  in  France,  and  about  a 
year  in  Italy. 

What  were  the  conditions  under  which  Holberg  grew 
up?  And  what  did  he  experience  abroad?  Turning  to 
Denmark  we  find  the  religious,  political  and  educational 
status  very  low.  We  can  get  an  idea  of  the  prevailing 
nature  of  government  when  we  learn  that  Christian  the 
Sixth  was  spoken  of  in  a  university  address  as  a  king 
whom  God  himself  "fills  with  his  wisdom,  honors  with 
his  friendship,  strengthens  by  his  teachings,  satisfies 
wTith  his  communications,  perfects  with  Divine  power, 
a  man  with  whom  he  shares  His  creative  strength,  one 
who  is  beautified  by  God's  image,"  and  "whose  plans 
evolve  from  the  thoughts  of  the  Almighty!" 

In  the  religious  field,  conditions  were  no  better.  In- 
tolerance and  persecution  were  the  rule.  He  who  dared 
depart  from  the  dry  orthodox  dogmas  was  promptly 
dealt  with  by  law.  Coupled  with  this  intolerance  was  a 
huge  mass  of  superstition  that  hung  as  a  depressing  cloud 
over  the  people.  An  eclipse,  a  comet  or  some  strange 
phenomenon  was  believed  to  portend  some  dire  mani- 
festation of  the  wrath  of  heaven  and  bespoke  as  a  cer- 
tainty the  judgment  of  God!  Belief  in  witch-craft  was 
common.  Only  fourteen  years  before  Holberg's  birth, 
seven  witches  were  burned  at  one  time  in  Christiania. 

The  theology  of  the  day  was  such  as  to  hinder  edu- 
cational activity.  There  was  only  one  student  of  law, 
for  instance,  to  several  hundred  students  of  theology. 
A  little  philosophy  was  taught,  but  chiefly  to  aid  in 
carrying  on  meaningless  theological  dissertations. 

During  Holberg's  youth  the  social  and  literary  con- 
ditions in  Denmark  were  slavishly  dependent  upon  those 
of  foreign  countries.  Latin  was  the  approved  literary 
language.  The  new  nobility  was  largely  German,  con- 
sequently German  was  the  language  of  the  court.  Ger- 
man was  also  spoken  to  a  great  extent  among  the  arti- 
sans and  merchants  as  these  classes  were  largely  of 


JEPPE  ON  THE  HILL.  vii 

the  same  origin  as  the  nobility.  Those  of  the  middle 
class  who  aspired  to  social  distinction  necessarily 
wore  powdered  wigs  and  spoke  French.  These  condi- 
tions limited  the  use  of  the  mother  tongue  to  the  farmers, 
the  fishermen  and  the  lower  classes,  whose  work  was 
frowned  at  and  whose  social  condition  was  as  wretched 
as  it  was  despised. 

Holberg,  however,  so^n  acquired  different  ideas  of 
government  religion  an  3  education,  of  social  customs 
and  of  literature  than  those  described.  He  did  not  be- 
lieve that  the  Scriptures  were  at  variance  with  all  other 
doctrines  except  that  of  "divine  right."  He  believed  in 
a  monarchial  government,  but  his  theory  was  that 
government  should  be  a  contract  between  ruler  and 
people  as  it  was  in  England  and  Holland.  This  was 
the  first  time  such  a  doctrine  was  taught  in  Denmark. 

Religious  compulsion  and  persecution  was  also  vigor- 
ously opposed  by  Holberg.  He  knew  but  one  kind  of 
justifiable  fanaticism  he  said,  and  that  was  fanaticism 
against  the  spirit  of  religious  intoleration.  The  pre- 
valent belief  in  witch-craft,  too,  was  a  subject  against 
which  Holberg  frequently  directed  his  satire. 

As  far  as  science  and  philosophy  is  concerned,  it  is 
sufficient  to  say  that  he  was  guided  by  the  English 
philosophers  of  the  time  who  held  that  experience  was 
the  safest  guide  to  knowledge.  In  Holland  he  was  in- 
fluenced by  Pierre  Bayle  and  LeClerc.  In  France, 
Montesquieu,  Montaigne,  and  Moliere  were  his  teachers, 
while  in  Germany  he  was  not  influenced  to  any  great  ex- 
tent. 

Holberg's  great  work  consisted  in  what  he  did  to 
better  the  condition  of  the  common  people  and  to 
popularize  the  Danish  language.  But  what  was  the 
reason  that  Holberg  was  able  to  take  the  most  desir- 
able teachings  and  customs,  from  England,  France  and 
Holland,  and  introduce  them  among  the  Scandinavian 
people?  To  begin  with  we  must  remember  that  his  child- 
hood was  spent  in  Norway's  most  cosmopolitan  city, 
Bergen.  This  gave  him  his  desire  to  travel.  His  con- 
tact with  people  of  wide  experience  in  many  different 


JEPPE  ON  THE  HILL. 


countries  would  certainly  not  lessen  his  liberal  tend- 
encies. Then  too  while  at  first  his  journeys  were  caused 
by  mere  curiosity,  he  soon  determined  to  travel  for  a 
purpose.  He  wished  to  teach  his  countrymen.  When 
abroad  he  made  careful  observations.  Foreign  customs 
were  constantly  compared  with  those  of  Denmark  and 
Norway.  But  though  he  was  liberal,  he  knew  the  art 
of  moderation.  While  much  that  was  foreign  could  be 
used  to  good  advantage,  there  was  also  a  great  deal  that 
was  undersirable.  His  judgments  were  remarkably  free. 
They  were  founded  on  his  own  observations,  not  on 
the  opinion  of  others.  His  liberal,  cosmopolitan  views 
his  keen  critical  discernment,  his  energy  and  application 
in  his  work  account  for  his  far  reaching  influence. 

There  remains  for  us  to  notice  how  the  people  were 
influenced  by  the  work  of  this  man.  Holberg  wrote  for 
and  about  the  common  people.  But  in  all  his  writings 
we  observe  his  remarkable  moderation  He  knew  that 
if  he  were  to  begin  his  educational  campaign  by  an  open 
attack  on  prevailing  conditions,  too  much  opposition 
would  be  the  result.  He  sought  the  confidence  and  good 
will  of  the  reader,  and  then  by  his  wealth  of  wit  and 
satire  the  reader  was  led  to  laugh  at  his  own  faults. 
But  it  was  not  enough  to  tear  down;  construction  was 
as  necessary  as  destruction.  The  satirical  poems,  such 
as  "Klim's  Underground  Journey"  and  "Peder  Paars" 
brought  the  people's  faults  to  view,  but  desirable  virtues 
to  take  their  place  were  just  as  effectively  presented  in 
his  "Epistles"  and  "Moral  Thoughts,"  virtues  which  were 
also  exemplified  in  the  author's  private  life. 

Holberg's  writings  created  a  proper  recognition  of  the 
mother-tongue,  and  awakened  a  new  interest  in  reading 
especially  among  the  middle  and  poorer  classes.  His  writ- 
ings created  in  the  people  an  interest  in  themselves  and  in 
their  land,  such  as  they  had  not  possessed  before.  It 
taught  them  to  cherish  the  best  that  was  Danish,  to 
substitute  the  sturdy  noble  products  of  their  own  land 
for  the  ephemeric  forms  which  ignorance  and 
slavish  imitation  had  brought  from  foreign  coun- 
tries.    It  helped  them  to  realize  themselves  and  it  gave 


JEPPE  ON  THE  HILL.  xi 

them  prospects  for  a  bright  future  as  a  nation.  In 
Ludvig  Holberg  we  see  today,  not  only  the  founder  of 
the  Norwegian-Danish  literature,  the  satirical  author 
of  "Peder  Paars"  or  "Nils  Klims  Underground  Journey," 
not  only  a  philosopher  and  historian,  but  a  teacher  who 
impressed  his  individuality  on  a  whole  people,  and  one 
whose  influence  as  a  mighty  power  for  good  is  felt  to- 
day not  only  in  Scandinavian  literature,  but  in  all 
Scandinavian  culture  as  well. 

—MORRIS  JOHNSON. 


JEPPE  ON  THE  HILL. 


INTRODUCTION. 


"Jeppe  on  the  Hill"  (Jeppe  paa  Bjerget)  is  probably 
the  best  known  of  Holberg's  many  comedies.  It  was 
first  presented  in  the  Danish  Theatre  in  1722,  and  has 
since  then  been  played  times  without  number  and  with 
continued  appreciation.  It  is  a  plain  picture  of  peasant 
life,  with  the  ludicrous  side  turned  out,  of  course,  but 
so  faithful  in  detail  and  comprehensive  in  character 
that  it  has  become  known  as  the  best  expression  of 
medieval  conditions  in  the  Scandinavian  language,  the 
classic  representation  of  the  medieval  peasant  in  north- 
ern Europe.     The  plot  of  the  play  is  briefly  thus: 

Jeppe,  the  principal  character,  is  a  poor  oppressed 
peasant,  abused  by  his  wife  and  trodden  down  by 
his  superiors.     We  are  introduced  in  the  opening  scene 

•  to  his  wife,  Nille,  a  veritable  Xanthippe  transplanted  to 
the  eighteenth  century.  With  her  shrill  voice  and  stout 
whip, — Master  Erik,  by  name, — she  drives  him  ouc,  nt 
an  unreasonably  early  hour  to  go  an  unreasonable  long 
distance  for  an  insignificant  amount  of  soap.  Sha  is, 
in  fact,  a  true  counterpart  of  Dame  Van  Winkle,  wield- 
ing authority  over  a  poor,  weak  Rip.  Without  so  much 
as  a  cup  of  coffee,  he  starts  with  his  dozen  pence  with 
which  he  is  to  make  his  purchase.  On  the  way  he 
stops  in  at  the  rascally  innkeeper's,  Jakob  Skomagers, 

%  who  induces  the  vacillating  Jeppe  to  part  little  by  little 
with  his  money  until  the  poor  peasant  finds  himself 
"broke,"  and  with  nothing  to  show  for  his  departed  coin 
but  a  "glorious  drunk."  After  a  soliloquy  in  which  he 
calls  to  mind  his  past  life,  especially  his  brief  ex- 
perience in  the  army,  he  is  overcome  by  his  intoxication 
and  falls  in  a  drunken  stupor  by  the  wayside.  In  this 
senseless  condition  he  is  found  by  his  "liege  lord  anl 
master,"  the  nobleman,  and  his  servants.  They  decide 
to  play  a  joke  on  the  fellow;  they  dress  him  in  the 
baron's  clothes,  take  him  to  the  castle  and  put  him  in 
the  baron's  bed,  and  then  wait  near  by  to  see  the  show. 
When  he  awakes  he  is  certainly  the  transformed— and 
perplexed— peasant.    He  is  quite  overcome  by  the  splen- 


JEPPE  OX  THE  HILL.  xi 

dor  of  his  surroundings,  thinks  at  one  moment  that  he 
is  in  a  dream,  and  next  decides  that  he  must  be  in 
paradise;  he  calls  for  his  wife,  receives  no  reply,  and 
wonders  whether  he  is  really  himself  or  someone  else. 
He  tries  in  vain  to  connect  the  past  with  the  present. 
When  the  uniformed  servants  answer  his  cry  for  help 
the  situation  becomes  comical  indeed.  When  Jeppe  is 
finally  convinced  by  servants  and  doctors  that  he  is 
the  baron,  he  assumes  his  new  role  with  a  vengeance 
and  begins  by  tyrannizing  over  the  servants  and  calling 
them  to  account.  He  does  not  forget  to  satisfy  his  de- 
sire for  good  things  to  eat  and  drink  and  after  some 
fast  music  and  a  dance  with  the  overseer's  wife,  he 
is  overcome  once  more,  this  time  by  the  wines  and  ex- 
citement, and  falls  again  into  a  stupor  of  intoxication. 
He  is  dressed  in  his  old  clothes  and  put  back  on  the 
dungheap  where  he  first  was  found.  When  he  awakes 
he  finds  himself  by  the  old  familiar  wayside  in  all  his 
old  toggery, — plain  "Jeppe  on  the  Hill"  once  more.  He 
is  now  thoroughly  convinced  that  he  really  was  in 
paradise,  and  begins  to  take  another  nap  in  the  hope 
of  again  coming  into  his  former  glory,  but  when  his 
wife,  Nille,  steals  up  and  administers  a  resounding 
whack  on  his  back  with  old  Master  Erik,  he  is  con- 
vinced beyond  a  reasonable  doubt  that  he  is  in  paradise 
no  longer.  The  situation  is  further  complicated  for  poor 
Jeppe  and  made  the  more  ludicrous  to  the  spectators 
when  he  is  hauled  before  a  magistrate  for  taking  pos- 
session of  the  baron's  house  and  tyrannizing  over  his 
servants.  At  the  mock  trial,  which  is  one  of  the  most 
humorous  situations  in  the  play,  he  stands  ready  to 
embrace  the  lawyer  who  defends  him  while  he  is  wish- 
ing he  could  knock  down  or  hang  the  lawyer  who  ac- 
cuses him. 

When  he  finds*  himself  solemnly  condemned  to  die 
by  poison  and  hanging,  he  implores  in  vain  for  pardon, 
asks  for  some  whiskey  to  keep  up  nis  courage,  bids 
farewell  to  wife,  family  and  dumb  friends,  and  falls  as 
before  into  a  deep  stupor.  As  he  gradually  regains 
consciousness,  it  is  but  to  find  himself  hanging  from  the 
gallows, — by  the  arm  pits,  to  be  sure,  but  looking  dead 


xii  JEPPE  ON  THE  HILL. 

enough  to  cause  his  wife  a  few  brief  moments  of  re- 
morse for  her  past  treatment  of  her  departed  spouse. 
After  he  has  been  sentenced  to  life  again  by  the  same 
court  that  sentenced  him  to  death  before,  the  magis- 
trate gives  him  four  Rixdollars,  a  great  sum  for  him, 
and  he  finds  himself  again  the  same  old  "Jeppe."  When 
at  last  he  is  free,  and  the  cause  of  his  perplexities  and 
bewildering  metamorphoses  has  been  revealed  to  him 
in  startling  fashion  by  the  irrepressible  Magnus,  his 
chagrin  is  deep,  indeed.  The  play  closes  after  the  old 
fashion  by  the  reappearance  of  the  perpetrators,  the 
baron  and  his  attendants,  the  former  drawing  the  moral 
from  the  incident. 


Such  is  the  simple  plot  of  this  immortal  comedy. 
Now  a  few  words  as  to  its  significance.  Jeppe,  the 
hero  and  central  figure  of  the  play,  is  a  type  of  the 
oppressed,  circumscribed,  and  despirited  serf  of  the 
seventeenth  and  eighteenth  centuries,  despised  by  his 
superiors  and  abused  by  his  wife,  drunken  as  an  almost 
inevitable  result  of  his  condition  and  mercilessly  driven 
from  his  own  home.  Drink  is  practically  his  only  re- 
course and  is  to  him  the  nearest  and  easiest  approach 
to  happiness.  It  is  as  the  eminent  Danish  critic, 
Brandes,  suggests,  a  sort  of  other  life  to  Jeppe, — it 
is  to  him  what  music  and  poetry  is  to  us.  What  may 
we  gather  from  his  reminiscences  as  he  calls  them  up 
in  his  intoxication?  His  soldier  days,  his  smattering 
of  German,  and  his  campaigns  are  particularly  vivid, 
and  although  the  latter  were  probably  not  especially 
glorious,  they  furnish  him  his  proudest  memories.  In- 
deed the  most  honorable  words  he  could  put  in  the 
mouth  of  the  sexton  as  he  imagined  him  at  his  own 
funeral  are  those  words  so  unspeakably  comical,  that 
"he  lived  like  a  soldier  and  died  like  a  soldier." 

What  does  this  peasant  know,  and  where  did  he  get 
his  knowledge  ?  The  source  is  not  far  to  seek.  His 
figures  have  the  flavor  of  the  stable  and  the  Bible  and 
he  is  far  more  certain  of  his  use  of  the  former  than 
of  the  latter.    He  has  also  come  by  just  enough  of  folk- 


JEPPE  ON  THE  HILL.  xiii 

lore  to  misapply  it,  as  note  his  reference  to  Abner 
and  Roland.  Who  are  his  most  intimate  friends?  There 
is  Mo'ns  Christofferson  who  gives  him  excellent  advice 
which  he  fails  to  follow,  but  dearest  of  all  is  his  dappled 
horse,  a  trifle  lazier,  if  such  a  thing  is  possible,  than 
himself.  But  poor  he  has  always  been,  and  while  baron 
he  shows  that  he  knows  to  a  much  greater  degree  than 
the  baron  himself  the  value  of  money;  for  though  he 
has,  so  far  as  he  knows,  more  money  than  he  has  ever 
seen  in  all  his  peasant  days,  he  remains  niggardly  in 
his  use  of  it  even  when  he  has  all  he  wants. 

What  is  this  man's  highest  idea  of  enjoyment,  what 
does  he  demand  when  his  greatest  wish  can  be  fulfilled? 
Simply  a  good  bed,  fine  clothes,  plenty  to  eat,  sweet 
wine  in  abundance,  many  servants,  and  a  handmaid. 
If  he  has  any  greater  ambition  it  would  be  to  have 
more  and  better  things  to  eat  and  drink,  and  more 
and  finer  things  to  wear.  It  is  but  natural  that  "he 
who  works  like  a  horse  will  enjoy  himself  like  a  dog." 
With  such  ideals  it  is  easy  to  see  how  he  could  imagine 
that  he  had  been  suddenly  transported  into  heaven. 
With  the  feeling  that  his  lord's  chief  business  is  to 
pilfer  his  hard-earned  money;  that  the  sexton  is  a  per- 
sonage whose  chief  virtue  is  a  powerful  voice;  and  that 
lawyers  and  magistrates  are  black-robed  blackguards 
who  juggle  with  equal  facility  with  justice  and  Latin 
phrases,  we  can  see  that  Jeppe's  idea  of  law  and  author- 
ity was  not  very  exalted.  His  highest  idea  of  justice 
was  embodied  in  his  toast,  "God  keep  our  friends,  and 
may  the  devil  take  all  our  enemies!" 

Though  he  is  a  peasant  he  knows  life  and  human 
nature  and  has,  too,  a  philosophy  of  life, — a  philosophy 
which  to  him  is  his  salvation.  He  does  not  look  on 
life  in  any  bitter  or  hopeless  way,  yet  he  has  that  dis- 
trust and  suspicion  so  characteristic  of  the  Danish 
peasant.  He  is  always  master  of  the  situation,  and  is 
cautious  and  sly  enough  never  to  allow  himself  to  be 
caught  off  his  guard.  He  weeps  in  sheer  gratitude  when 
his  lawyer  defends  him,  and  he  offers  him  a  chew  of 
his  tobacco,  but  when  the  lawyer  answers  that  he  did 
it  from  a  sense  of  Christian  charity  he  answers,  sar- 


JEPPE  ON  THE  HILL. 


castically,  "I  beg  your  pardon,  Mr.  Lawyer,  I  had  not 
thought  you  people  were  so  honest."  In  the  last  act 
(Act  V.,  Scene  2)  we  see  another  illustration  of  his 
native  shrewdness.  When  he  has  been*  sentenced  back 
to  life  we  would  naturally  expect  a  profuse  expression 
of  gratitude  from  Jeppe  on  his  delivery  from  death. 
But  when  the  judge  says  to  him,  "Thank  us,  that  we 
have  been  so  gracious  as  to  sentence  you  back  to  life," 
Jeppe  gives  the  unexpected  answer  that  "if  you  had  not 
hanged  me  yourself,  I  should  have  been  glad  to  thank 
you  that  you  let  me  down  again." 

While  a  mere  peasant  he  appears  dull  and  common- 
place enough,  but  give  him  the  opportunity  which  he 
gets  from  the  second  act  and  on,  and  he  displays  a  sur- 
prising readiness  in  his  efforts  to  solve  the  perplexing 
problems  he  has  had  placed  before  him  The  question 
of  existence  or  non-existence  which  he  has  to  answer 
might  well  perplex  a  sage;  but  while  Jeppe  is  not  quite 
able  to  unravel  the  situation,  he  makes  rare  use  of  the 
powers  of  logic  at  his  command.  When  at  last  he  is 
asked  to  face  death,  he  does  so  with  resignation,  for 
he  has  not  had  much  to  be  thankful  for  in  life.  In  the 
supposed  hour  of  his  death  he  turns,  not  to  the  Bible 
of  which  he  is  so  blissfully  ignorant,  but  to  that  never- 
failing  comforter  through  life — the  whiskey  bottle. 
When  he  bids  farewell,  as  he  supposes,  to  this  world, 
he  includes  the  whole  circle  of  his  interest,  and  says, 
"Goodbye,"  and  "Thanks  for  good  company"  to  his  fam- 
ily and  his  animal  friends,  including  his  dappled  horse, 
his  faithful  dog,  and  even  "Mo'ns,"  his  black  cat. 

We  have  then  in  Jeppe  a  character  furnishing  on  the 
one  hand  entertainment  to  the  young  and  light  of 
heart,  and  on  the  other  an  interesting  study  for  the 
psychologist,  the  statesman,  the  socialist,  the  historian 
and  the  philanthropist. 

Thus  the  author  has  depicted  through  the  various 
burlesque  and  humorous  situations  of  a  comedy  a  con- 
crete yet  typical  character,  he  has  given  us  the  pathetic 
history  of  a  poor,  oppressed  peasant,  a  whole  human 
life  from  the  cradle  to  the  grave. 

— W.  C.  W. 


DRAMATIS  PERSONAE 


As  played  in  the  original  language  at  the  Metropolitan 
Theater,  Grand  Forks,  N.  D.,  May  17,  1906. 

Jeppe  on  the  Hill John  M.  Anderson 

Nille,  his  wife W.  C.  Westergaard 

Baron  Nilus Olger  Burtness 

Secretary Henry  Kyllo 

Valet Norris  Nelson 

Erik,  lackey Magnus  Ruud 

Second  lackey Bernhard  Sandlie 

Jakob  Skomager,  innkeeper Edward  Hansen 

Ti-^     ,  (  Ingvold  Knudson 

wo   Doctors 1  M  ,    p.  i 

(  Nels  Dolve 

Overseer Reuben  Stee 

Overseer's  wife M.  Ruud 

The  Judge O.  B.  Burtness 

^        ,  (  Martin  B.  Ruud 

Two  Lawyers  -j  N   Q   Do,ve 

Magnus H.  Kyllo 

Armed  men,  attendants,  etc. 

The  scene,  a  peasant  village   in  Sealand,  Denmark ;  time,  about 
the  year  1700. 


JEPPE  ON  THE  HILL.  17 


jeippe:  on  the  hill 

ACT  I. 

Scene  1. 

>'ille  (alone) — I  don't  believe  there  is  such  a  lazy 
rascal  in  the  whole  district  as  my  husband.  I  can 
hardly  wake  him  up  when  I  pull  him  out  of  bed  by  the 
hair.  To-day  the  rascal  knows  that  it  is  market  day, 
but  still  he  lies  and  sleeps  so  long.  Herr  Paul  said  to 
me  lately,  "Nille,  you  are  too  hard  on  your  husband. 
He  is  and  ought  to  be  master  of  the  household."  But 
I  answered  him,  "No,  my  dear  Herr  Paul,  if  I  should 
let  him  boss  this  house  for  a  single  year  then  neither 
the  landlord  would  get  his  rent  nor  the  rector  his  fee, 
since  ha  would  squander  in  drink  all  that  I  have  in 
the  house.  Should  I  let  such  a  man  rule  this  house- 
hold, who  is  ready  to  sell  farm,  wife,  children — yes, 
even  himself — for  drink?"  Whereupon  Herr  Paul  be- 
came 'Silent  and  thoughtfully  stroked  his  chin.  The 
overseer  of  the  estate  sides  with  me  and  says,  "Little 
woman,  don't  you  mind  what  the  preacher  says.  Al- 
though ;he  ritual  says  -that  you  must  honor  and  obey 
your  husband,  your  lease,  which  is  newer  than  the  ritual, 
says  that  you  must  keep  up  your  place  and  pay  your 
rent,  which  it  would  be  impossible  for  you  to  do  if  you 
did  not  drag  your  old  man  out  of  bed  by  the  hair  every 
morning  and  drive  him  to  work."  Just  now  I  jerked 
him  out  of  bed  and  went  out  to  the  bam  to  see  how  the 
work  was  getting  on,  and  when  I  came  back  he  was 
sitting  with  his  trousers  over  one  leg,  and  so  the  switch 
had  to  be  taken  off  the  peg  and  my  good  old  Jeppe 
dressed  down  until  he  became  quite  awake  again.  The 
only  thing  he  is  afraid  of  is  Master  Erick,  (that  is  what 
I  call  the  switch.)     Hey,  Jeppe,  aren't  you  up  yet,  you 


18        .  JEPPE  ON  THE  HILL. 

lazy  bones?    Would  you  like  to  speak  with  Master  Erik 
once  more?     Hey,  Jeppe,  come  out! 
Scene  2. 

Jeppe — I  must  have  time  to  put  on  my  clothes, 
mustn't  ]  ?  You  don't  want  me  to  come  out  like  a 
pig  without  trousers   and   without  coat. 

Nille — Haven't  you  had  time,  you  wretch,  to  put  on 
ten  pairs  of  trousers  since  I  woke  you  up  this  morning? 

Jeppe  (cautiously) — Have  you  put  Master  Erik  away, 
Nille? 

Nille — Yes,  I  have,  but  I  know  where  I  can  find  him 
again,  if  you  don't  get  around  in  a  hurry.  Come  here! 
See  how  he  crawls  along!  Come  here!  You've  got 
to  go  to  town  to  buy  two  pounds  of  soft  soap;  here  is 
the  money.  But  listen!  If  you  are  not  back  again 
inside  of  four  hours  Master  Erik  shall  dance  a  polka 
on  your  back. 

Jeppe — How  can  I  walk  four  miles  in  four  hours? 

Nille — Who  says  you  are  to  walk,  you  rascal? 
You  shall  run!  I  have  told  you  what  to  do  once,  now 
do  as  you  please. 

Scene  3. 

Jeppe  (alone) — There  that  sow  goes  in  to  eat  break- 
fast, and  I,  poor  man,  must  walk  four  miles  before  I 
can  get  anything  to  eat;  can  anyone  have  such  a 
damned  woman  as  I  have?  I  really  believe  she  is  a 
cousin  to  Lucifer.  Folks  around  here  say  that  Jeppe 
drinks,  but  they  don't  say  why  Jeppe  drinks;  why,  I 
never  got  so  many  poundings  in  tb«3  ten  years  I  was 
in  the  army  as  I  get  every  day  from  that  awful  woman. 
She  pounds  me,  the  overseer  drives  me  to  work  like 
a  beast;  and  the  sexton  pays  court  to  my  wife.  Mustn't 
I  drink,  mustn't  I  use  all  the  means  nature  has  given 
us  to  drive  away  sorrow?  If  I  .were  a  fool,  such 
things  wouldn't  trouble  me  so  much,  and  then  I  wouldn't 
drink;  but  it  is  certain  that  I  am  a  clever  man,  and 
therefore  I  feel  such  things  more  than  others,  so  I  must 
drink.  My  neighbor,  Mo'ns  Christopherson,  often  tells 
me,  as  he  is  my  friend:  "Confound  you,  Jeppe,  why 
don't   you    defend   yourself,    then    the   old    woman    will 


uNl\ 


JEPPE  ON  THE  HILL.  19 

come  to  her  senses."  But  I  can't  strike  back  for  three 
reasons.  "First,  because  I  haven't  any  courage- 
second,  because  of  that  damned  Master  Erik  hanging 
behind  Uie  bed,  which  my  back  cannot  think  of  with- 
out crying;  third,  because  I  am,  if  I  do  say  it 
myself,  a  good  sort  of  soul  and  a  good  Christian,  who 
never  seeks  revenge.  I  am  so  kind-hearted  that  I  have 
never  even  wished  that  the  old  woman  would  die.  On 
the  contrary,  when  she  lay  sick  of  jaundice  last  year, 
I  wished  that  she  would  live;  for,  as  hell  is  already 
full  of  bad  women,  Lucifer  would  probably  send  her 
back,  and  then  she  would  be  still  worse  than  before. 
But  if  the  sexton  died,  then  I  would  be  glad,  for  my 
own  sake  as  well  as  for  others;  since  he  does  me  only 
harm  and  is  of  no  use  to  the  congregation.  He  is 
an  ignorant  devil,  for  he  has  no  voice  at  all  for 
singing,  nor  can  he  cast  an  honest  wax  candle.  Xo, 
then  his  predecessor,  Christopher,  w»s  a  different  sort 
ot  a  person.  He  beat  twelve  sextons  at  singing  in  his 
day,  Buch  a  \oice  had  he.  One  time  I  got  into  a  quarrel 
with  the  deacon,  while  Nille  was  listening,  and  when  he 
scolded  me  for  being  run  by  my  wife,  I  said:  "The 
devil  ta;:e  you,  Sexton  Mads."  But  what  happened? 
Master  Erik  was  taken  from  the  wall  to  settle  the 
quarrel  and  my  back  got  so  sore  that  I  had  to  beg 
the  sexton's  pardon  and  thank  him,  mind  you,  that  he, 
a  learned  man,  would  honor  my  house  by  his  visits. 
Since  that  time  I  have  never  thought  of  making  any 
opposition.  Oh,  yes,  yes,  Mo'ns  Christopherson!  You 
and  other  peasants  whose  wives  have  no  Master  Erik 
hanging  behind  the  bed,  can  talk  like  that.  If  I  had 
a  single  wish  in  the  world  it  would  be  either  that  my 
wife  had  no  arms  or  I  no  back;,  since  she  may  use 
her  tongue  as  much  as  she  likes.  But  I'll  have  to 
stop  in  at  Jakob  Skomager's  on  the  way.  He'll  give 
me  a  penny's  worth  of  brandy  on  credit  all  right; 
for  I  must  have  something  to  quench  my  thirst.  Hey, 
Jakob  Skomager!  Are  you  up  yet?  Open  the  door, 
Jakob! 


20  JEPPE  ON  THE  HILL. 

Scene  4. 
Jakob  Skomager  (in  his  shir*).    Jeppe. 

Jakob — Who  the  devil  comes  here  so  early? 

Jeppe — Good  morning,  Jakob  Skomager. 

Jakob — Thank  you,  Jeppe!  You're  around  pretty 
early  to-day. 

Jeppe — Give  me  a  penny  worth  of  brandy,  Jakob. 

Jakob — Very  well,  hand  me  the  penny. 

Jeppe — You'll  get  that  to-morrow  when  I  come  back. 

Jakob — Jakob  Skomager  doesn't  sell  whiskey  'on 
credit;   you  have  a  penny  or  two,  I  know. 

Jeppe — The  devil  I  have,  Jakob!  Except  a  few  shil- 
lings my  wife  gave  me  to  buy  soap  for  in  town." 

Jakob — I  know  you  can  beat  dawn  the  price  a  couple 
of  pence;   what  is  your  purchase,  Jenpe? 

Jeppe — I  am  to  buy  two  pounds  of  soft  soap. 

Jakob — Why,  can't  you  say  that  you  gave  a  couple 
pence  more  per  pound  than  you  paid? 

Jeppe — I'm  so  afraid  that  my  wife  will  find  it  out, 
and  then  bad  luck  to  me! 

Jakob— Pshaw!  How'll  she  find  that  out?  Can't  you 
swear  that  you  spent  all  your  money?    You're  a  dunce. 

Jeppe — True  enough,  Jakob,  that's  what  I  can  do. 

Jakob — Give  me  the  penny  then. 

Jeppe — There!  but  you  must  give  me  back  a  ha' 
penny. 

Jakob  (comes  with  a  glass  and  drinks  Jeppe's 
health).    Your  health,  Jeppe! 

Jeppe   (looks  at  glass) — You  drank  like  a  fish. 

Jakob— Well!  Don't  you  know  it  is  customary  for 
the  host  to  drink  to  the  health  of  the  guests? 

Jeppe — I  know;  but  may  the  devil  take  the  one 
who  first  started  that  custom!     Your  health,  Jakob! 

Jakob — Thanks,  Jeppe!  You  will  have  to  take  some- 
thing for  the  other  ha'penny,  too.  You  can't  bring  it 
back.  Or  perhaps  you  want  to  have  a  glass  of  whiskey 
to  your  credit  when  you  come  back  from  town.  For, 
by  my  faith,  I  haven't  a  single  ha'penny. 

Jeppe — The  devil  I  will;  if  I  must  spend  it,  I'll  do 
i  c  now,  for  then  I  can  feel  that  I  have  something  in 
my  stomach;  but  if  you  drink  of  it,  too,  I  won't  pay. 


JEPPE  ON  THE  HILL.  21 

Jakob — Your  health,  Jeppe  1 

Jeppe — God  keep  our  friends  and  the  devil  take  all 
our  enenies!     Ah,  that  felt  good! 
Jakob — Happy  journey,  Jeppe! 
Jeppe — Thanks,  Jakob  Skomager! 

Scene  5. 

Jeppe   (alone,  becomes  happy  and  begins  to  sing)  — 
"A    white    hen    and    a    speckled    hen 
They  started  to  fight  the  cock,  etc." 

Ah!  If  only  I  dared  to  drink  another  penny's  worth! 
Ah!  if  I  only  dared  to  drink  just  one  more  penny's 
worth!  I  believe  I'll  do  it.  No,  I  will  be  sorry  if  I  do. 
Could  I  only  get  away  from  the  inn  then  there  would  be 
no  trouble,  but  there  seems  to  be  some  one  that  holds  me 
back.  I  must  go  in  again.  But  what  are  you  doing, 
Jeppe?  I  seem  to  see  Nille  standing  before  me  with 
Master  Erik  in  her  hand.  I  must  turn  back.  Ah!  if 
I  only  dared  drink  one  more  penny's  worth!  My  stomach 
says,  you  shall;  my  back,  you  shall  not;  which  shall 
I  then  obey?  Is  not  my  stomach  more  important  than 
my  back?  I  say  yes.  Shall  I  knock?  Hey!  Jakob 
Skomager,  come  out! — but  that  damned  woman  comes 
to  my  mind  again!  If  only  she  would  strike  so  my  back 
didn't  nurt  so  bad,  I  wouldn't  mind  it  at  all;  but  she 
hits  me  like —  Ah!  God  held  me,  poor  man,  what 
shall  I  To?  Restrain  yourself,  Jeppe!  Isn't  it  a  shame 
that  you  should  make  yourself  miserable  for  the  sake 
of  a  gla^s  of  rotten  whiskey?  Xo,  it  sha'n't  happen 
this  time, — I  must  away.  Ah!  if  I  only  dared  to  drink 
one  more  penny's  worth.  It  was  my  bad  luck  that  I  first 
got  a  taste  for  it;  now  I  can't  get  away.  Get  there, 
legs!  Blast  you  if  you  don't  go!  No,  the  rascals  will 
not,  they  want  to  go  back  to  the  inn;  my  limbs  make 
war  upon  each  other.  Will  you  go,  you  dogs!  you 
beasts!  you  rap-scallions!  No,  the  devil  take  them, 
they  waut  to  go  Dack  to  the  inn;  I  have  more  trouble 
with  my  legs,  to  make  them  go  away  from  the  inn  than 
to  get  my  piebald  mare  out  of  the  stable.  Ah!  if  I  only 
dared  to  drink  one  single  penny's  worth  more!  Who 
knows  if  Jakob  Skomager  won't  trust  me  for  a  penny  or 


22  JEPPE  OX  THE  HILL. 

two   if    I    ask   him    real    nice.      Hey,    Jakob!      Another 
whiskey  for  tuppence! 

Scene  6. 

Jakob.     Jeppe. 

Jakoo — Hello,  Jeppe!  Have  you  come  back?  I  knew 
you  didn't  get  enough.  What  does  one  glass  amount  to? 
That  will  hardly  wet  the  throat. 

Jeppe — Sure  enough,  Jakob!  Gi'  me  another  glass! 
(aside)  When  I  once  have  drunk  it.  then  I  guess  he  will 
have  to  trust  me,  whether  he  wants  to  or  not. 

Jakob — Here's  the  drink,  Jeppe,  but  the  money  first. 

Jeppe — I  s'pose  you  can  trust  me  while  I  drink,  as 
the  old  saying  goes. 

Jakob — We  don't  care  for  any  old  sayings  here,  Jep- 
pe! If  you  won't  pay  in  advance  you'll  not  get  a  drop. 
We  have  sworn  off  trusting  anybody,  even  the  overseer 
himself. 

Jeppe  (weeping) — Can't  you  trust  me,  I  am  an  honest 
man? 

Jakob — No  credit,  Jeppe. 

Jeppe — Take  the  money  then,  you  rascal!.  Now  it  is 
dene,  drink  now,  Jeppe!    (drinks).     Ah!   that  feels  good. 

Jakob — Yes,  that's  the  kind  of  stuff  to  warm  a  fel- 
low's inside! 

Jeppe — The  best  thing  about  whiskey  is  that  it 
gives  a  .nan  such  spirit.  Now  I  think  neither  of  my 
wife  nor  Master  Erik,  so  changed  have  I  become  after 
the  last  ^lass.  Do  you  know  this  song,  Jakob?  (Sings.) 
Little   Kirsten   and   Herr   Peder   they   sat   at  the   table, 

Peteheia, 
A  spoke  fo  many  a  jesting  word,  Polemeia. 
In  the  summer  sing  the  merry  starling,  Peteheia, 
May  the  devil  take  Nille,  the  wicked  wench,  Polemeia, 
I  took  a  walk  in  bright  green  wood,  Peteheia, 
The  sexton,  he  is  a  rascally  dog,  Polemeia, 
I  seated  myself  on  my  dapple  gray  horse,  Peteheia. 
The  sexton,  he  is  a  downright  beast,  Polemeia, 
But,  if  you  will  know  the  name  of  my  wife, ! 

I  wrote  that  song  myself,  Jakob! 

Jakob — The  devil  you  did! 


JEPPE  OX  THE  HILL.  23 

Jepp? — Jeppe  is  not  so  stupid  as  you  think.     I  have 
also  made  a  song  about  the  shoemaker  which  runs  thus: 
The  Shoemaker  with  his  fiddle  and  his  drum,  Philebom, 
Philebom. 

Jakob—  Why,  you  fool,  that's  a  song  for  fiddlers. 

Jeppe — Yes,  sure  enough.  Look  here,  Jakob.  Give 
me  another  dram! 

Jakob — Good,  now  I  can  see  that  you  are  a  fine 
fellow  and  don't  begrudge  my  house  pn  honest  penny. 

Jeppe— Hey,  Jakob:     Just  give  me  for  tuppence. 

Jakob — Very  well: 

Jeppe,  (sings  again) — 

The  earth  drinks  up  the  water, 
The  sea  drinks  up  the  sun; 
The  sun  drinks  up  the  ocean, 

Everything   drinks    in    this   world. 
Why  should   I  not  then 
Drink  with  all  the  rest? 

Jakob — Your  health,  Jeppe: 

Jeppe — Mir  zu. 

Jakob — Good  luck  with  half  of  it! 

Jeppe — Ich  tank  ju,  Jakob!  Drik  man,  datt  dig  di 
Dyvel  haal,  datt  ist  dig  vel  undt. 

Jakob — I  hear  you  can  talk  German,  Jeppe. 

Jeppe — Sure,  that's  nothing  new,  but  I  don't  usually 
talk  it  except  when  I'm  drunk. 

Jakob— Then  you  surely  talk  at  least  once  a  day. 

Jeppe — I  have  been  in  the  army  ten  years  and  should 
I  not  know  my  own  language? 

Jakoo — Why,  that's  right,  Jeppe!  We  were  in  the 
same  campaign  for  two  years. 

Jeppe — Sure  enough,  I  remember  now.  You  were 
hung,  weren't  you,  when  you  deserted  at  Wismar? 

Jakob — I  was  to  have  been  hanged,  but  was  pardoned. 
"There  -s  many  a  slip  between  the  cup  and  the  lip." 

Jeppe — It  is  too  bad  that  you  weren't  hanged,  Jakob; 
but  weren't  you  along  in  that  action  which  took  place 
on  the  plain — well,  you  know  where — 

Jakob — Ah!  where  haven't  I  been  along? 

Jeppe — I'll  never  forget  the  first  volley  the  Swedes 
fired.     I  believe  there  fell  three  thousand  if  not  four 


24  JEPPE  ON  THE  HILL. 


thousand  men  at  one  time.  (Hie.)  Dasz  ging  for- 
dyvelet  am,  Jakob.  Du  kandst  wohl  das  ihukommen;  ich 
kann  nich  negten  dat  ik  jo  bange  var  in  dat  slag. 

Jakob — Yes,  yes,  death  is  pretty  hard  to  meet;  a 
fellow  is  so  pious  when  he  meets  the  enemy. 

Jeppe — Yes,  quite  true;  I  don't  know  how  it  was, 
but  I  lay  and  read  the  whole  night  before  the  action  in 
David's    'Psalter." 

Jakob — I  wonder  that  you  who  have  been  a  soldier 
will  let  your  wife  tyrannize  over  you  the  way  she  does. 

Jeppe — I!  If  I  only  had  her  here!  Then  you  would 
see  how  I  should  pound  her!  One  more  glass,  Jakob! 
I  have  eight  pence  left  yet!  (Aside)  When  I  have  drunk 
them  up,  I  shall  drink  on  credit.  Give  me  a  mug  of 
beer  on  that. 

In   Leipsig  was  a  man, 
In  Leipsig  was  a  man, 
In  Leipsig  was  a  good  for  nix, 
In  Leipsig  was  a  good  for  nix, 
The  man  he  took  himself  a  wife,  etc., 
In  Leipsig  was  a  man. 

Jakob — Your  health,  Jeppe! 

Jeppe — Hey!  He — y!  He —  Here's  to  you  and  to 
me  and  to  all  good  friends!     He — Hey! 

Jakob — Don't  you  want  to  drink  the  overseer's 
health  ? 

Jeppe — Very  well;  give  me  another  penny's  worth. 
The  overseer  is  a  decent  sort  of  fellow.  When  we  put  a 
dollar  in  his  hand  he  will  swear  by  his  soul  before  his 
master  that  we  cannot  pay  our  land  rent.  I'll  be 
hanged,  if  I  have  any  money  left — you  will  give  me 
a  few  drinks  more  on  credit,  won't  you? 

Jakob — No,  Jeppe,  you  can't  stand  any  more  now. 
I'm  not  the  fellow  who  will  allow  his  guests  to  overdo 
things  in  his  house  and  let  them  drink  more  than  is 
good  for  them.  I  would  rather  lose  my  living,  for  it  is 
a  sin. 

Jeppe — Hey,  one  more  drink. 

Jakob — No,  Jeppe,  now  I  won't  give  you  any  more; 
remember  that  you  have  a  long  way  to  go. 


JEPPE  ON  THE  HILL.  25 

Jeppe — Dog!  Scoundrel!  Beast!  Rascal!  Hey! 
Pie— y! 

Jakob — Goodbye,  Jeppe!    happy  journey! 

Scene  7. 

Jeppe  (alone) — Ah,  Jeppe,  you  are  as  full  as  a  tick! 
My  legs  will  hardly  carry  me.  Will  you  stand,  you  ras- 
cals, or  won't  you?  Hey,  there,  what  time  is  it!  Hey, 
Jakob,  villain,  scoundrel.  Hey!  Just  one  more  drink! 
Will  you  stand,  you  dogs?  No,  the  devil  take  me  if  they 
will  stand.  Thanks,  Jakob  Skomager.  Let's  have  an- 
other! Listen,  comrade!  Where's  the  road  to  the  town? 
Stand,  I  tell  you!  Look,  the  beast  is  drunk.  You  drank 
like  a  toper,  Jakob.  Do  you  call  that  a  drink  of  whis- 
key— you  measure  like  a  Turk. 

(While  he  js  speaking  he  falls  and  remains  lying.) 

Scene  8. 
Baron  \ilus.     His  Secretary.     A  Valet.     Two  Lackeys. 

Baron — The  prospects  for  a  good  crop  are  very  prom- 
ising.    Just  see  how  nice  the  barley  stands. 

Secretary — Yes,  that  is  quite  true,  your  Grace;  but 
that  means  that  a  bushel  of  barley  will  not  bring  a 
higher  price  than  five  marks. 

.  Baron — That  makes  no  difference.     The  peasants  al- 
ways do  better  when  the  times  are  good. 

Secretary — I  don't  know  how  it  is,  my  lord,  the 
peasants  always  complain  and  ask  for  seed  grain 
whether  the  season  is  good  or  bad.  When  they  have 
anything  they  drink  all  the  more.  Here  is  an  innkeeper 
in  the  neighborhood  by  the  name  of  Jakob  Skomager 
who  does  much  to  make  the  peasants  poor.  They  say 
that  he  puts  salt  in  the  beer  so  that  the  more  they 
drink,  the  more  they  shall  thirst. 

Baron — We  must  get  that  fellow  out  of  the  way. 
But  what  is  that  lying  there  in  the  road?  Why,  that's 
a  dead  man.  One  hears  of  nothing  but  accidents.  Run 
over  there,  one  of  you,  and  see  what  it  is. 

A    lackey — That     is    Jeppe     on     the    Hill,    who     has 
the  shrewish  wife.     Wake  up,  Jeppe.     No,  he  wouldn't 


26  JEPPE  ON  THE  HILL. 

wake  up  if  we  p,ounded  him  and  pulled  him  around  by 
the  hair. 

Baron — Just  let  him  be,  I  would  like  to  play  a  little 
trick  on  him.  You  used  to  be  quite  inventive  fellows, 
can  you  devise  something  now  to  amuse  me? 

Secretary — It  seems  to  me  it  would  be  clever  if  we 
tied  a  paper  collar  around  his  neck  or  clipped  his  hair. 

The  valet — It  seems  to  me  that  it  would  be  even 
more  clever  if  we  daubed  his  face  with  ink  and  sta- 
tioned someone  to  see  how  his  wife  would  receive  him 
when  he  came  home  in  such  a  predicament. 

Baron — That's  all  very  well,  but  what  will  you  wager 
that  Erik  can  devise  something  more  clever  than  that? 
Give  us  your  opinion,  Erik! 

Erik,  lackey — It  is  my  opinion  that  his  clothes  should 
all  be  taken  off  and  that  he  should  be  laid  in  my  lord's 
best  bed,  and  in  the  morning  when  he  awakes  we  should 
all  act  as  though  he  were  the  lord  of  the  manor,  so 
that  he  should  not  know  who  or  where  he  was.  And 
when  we  have  made  him  believe  that  he  is  the  baron, 
we  should  make  him  as  drunk  again  as  he  now  is  and 
lay  him,  in  his  old  clothes,  on  the  same  dung  heap. 
Ii  this  plan  is  carefully  executed,  it  would  have  a 
strange  effect  and  he  would  make  himself  believe  either 
that  he  had  dreamed  about  such"  glories  or  that  he 
had  really  been  in  Paradise. 

Baron — Erik,  you  are  a  great  man  and  therefore  you 
have  only  great  ideas.  But  now  if  he  should  wake  up 
in  the  meantime? 

Erik — I  am  very  sure  that  he  will  not,  my  lord. 
Since  the  same  Jeppe  on  the  Hill  is  one  of  the 
soundest  sleepers  in  the  whole  district.  Why,  they 
tried  the  other  year  to  fasten  a  rocket  to  the  back  of 
his  neck,  but  even  when  the  rocket  was  fired  off  he 
didn't  wake  up  from  his  sleep. 

Baron — Let  us  then  proceed.  Take  him  away  im- 
mediately, clothe  him  in  a  fine  shirt  and  lay  him  in  my 
best  bed. 

(Curtain.) 


JEPPE  ON  THE  HILL.  27 

ACT  II. 

Scene  1. 
Jeppe. 

(Jeppe  is  represented  lying  in  the  Baron's  bed,  a 
gold  embroidered  dressing  gown  on  a  chair;  he  awakes, 
rubs  his  eyes,  looks  around  and  becomes  frightened; 
rubs  his  eyes  again,  feels  of  his  head  and  finds  a  gold 
embroidered  nightcap;  he  moistens  his  eyelids,  rubs 
them  again,  turns  the  nightcap  around  and  examines 
it,  looks  at  his  fine  shirt,  at  the  ro'oe,  at  everything, 
with  strange  grimaces.  Meanwhile  soft  music  is  heard, 
at  which  Jeppe  folds  his  hands  and  weeps;  when  the 
music  ^tops  he  begins  to  speak.) 

But  what  is  this?  What  sort  of  splendor  is  this 
and  how  have  I  come  here?  Do  I  dream,  or  am  I  awake? 
No.  I  am  quite  awake.  Where  is  my  wife,  where  are 
my  children,  where  is  my  house,  and  where  is  Jeppe? 
Everything  is  changed,  myself,  too.  Ah,  what  can  it 
be?  What  can  it  be?  (He  calls  softly  and  fearfully.) 
Nille!  Nille!  Nille!  I  believe  that  I  have  got  into 
Heaven,  Nille,  and  that  without  deserving  it.  But,  can 
it  be  me?  It  seems  to  me  it  is;  then  again,  it  seems 
to  me  it  isn't.  When  I  feel  of  my  back,  which  is  still 
sore  from  the  blows  I  got,  when  I  hear  myself  speak, 
when  I  feel  of  my  hollow  tooth,  it  seems  to  me  that 
it's  me.  When,  on  the  other  hand,  I  look  at  my  cap, 
my  shirt,  and  on  all  the  fine  things  before  me,  and  hear 
the  beautiful  music,  I'll  be  hanged  if  I  can  get  it  into 
my  head  that  it's  me.  No,  it  isn't  me.  I  am  a  scoundrel 
a  thousand  times  if  it's  me!  But  I  wonder  if  I  am 
dreaming.  It  doesn't  seem  so.  I'll  try  to  pinch  my 
aim;  if  it  doesn't  hurt,  then  I  dream;  if  it  hurts,  then 
I  don't  dream. — Yes,  I  felt  it,  I  am  awake;  to  be  sure 
I  am  awake;  no  one  can  deny  that.  Because  if  I  were 
not  awake  I  could  not — but  how  can  I  be  awake  when 
I  stop  *o  think?  It  cannot  fail  then  that  I  am  Jeppe 
on  the  Hill;  I  certainly  know  that  I  a  ma  poor 
peasant,  a  serf,  a  rascal,  a  scoundrel,  a  hungry  maggot, 
a  poor  worm!  But  how  can  I  at  the  same  time  b*e  king 
and  lord  of  the  castle?     No,  it  must  be  only  a  dream. 


28  JEPPE  ON  THE  HILL. 

Therefore,  it  is  best  to  have  patience  till  I  wake  up. 
(The  music  is  again  heard  and  Jeppe  begins  to  cry.) 
Ah!  But  can  a  person  hear  such  things  in  his  sleep? 
That  is  impossible!  But  if  it  is  a  dream,  then  I  wish 
that  I  may  never  wake  up  again,  and  if  I  am  mad,  then 
may  I  never  become  sane;  for  I  should  sue  the  doctor 
who  cured  me  and  curse  him  who  woke  me  up.  But 
I  neither  dream  nor  am  mad,  for  I  can  remember  my 
whole  life.  I  remember  that  my  sainted  father  was 
Niels  on  the  Hill,  my  grandfather,  Jeppe  on  the 
Hill,  my  wife's  name  is  Nille,  her  switch,  Master 
Erik,  my  sons,  Hans,  Christopher  ar»d  Niels.  But  see! 
Now  I  know:  it  is  the  other  life,  it  is  paradise,  it  is 
heaven!  I  must  have  drunk  too  much  yesterday  at 
Jakob  Skomager's,  died  and  immediately  come  to  heaven. 
Death  cannot  be  so  awful  as  they  would  make  one  be- 
lieve, since  I  didn't  even  feel  it.  Now,  perhaps,  Herr 
Jesper  is  standing  this  minute  in  the  pulpit  making  a 
funeral  sermon  over  my  body  and  saying:  Such  was 
the  end  of  Jeppe  on  the  Hill;  he  lived  like  a  soldier 
and  died  like  a  soldier.  Of  course,  one  might  question 
whether  I  died  on  land  or  sea,  since  I  went  out  of  the 
world  pretty  well  soaked.  Ah,  Jeppe,  this  is  something 
different  trom  going  four  miles  to  town  to  buy  soap, 
from  lying  on  straw  and  from  getting  whipped  by  your 
wife.  Ah!  To  what  bliss  have  not  your  suffering  and 
dark  days  been  transformed?  Ah!  T  must  weep  from 
joy  when  I  think  that  this  has  come  to  me  through  no 
merit  of  my  own.  But  one  thing  comes  to  my  mind: 
I  am  so  thirsty  that  my  lips  are  nearly  parched.  If  I 
should  wish  myself  alive  again,  it  would  be  only  thaT 
I  might  get  a  mug  of  beer  to  quench  my  thirst;  for 
what  good  does  all  this  glory  do  me  when  I  must  die 
again  of  thirst?  I  remember  the  preacher  has  often 
said  that  one  neither  hungers  nor  thirsts  in  heaven  and 
further  that  one  finds  there  all  his  deceased  friends. 
But  I  am  nearly  dying  from  thirst.  I  am  also  quite 
alone;  I  don't  see  a  soul.  I  ought  to  find  my  grand- 
father at  least,  who  was  such  a  decent  person  that  he 
never  left  a  shilling  of  debt  to  his  landlord.  Of  course, 
I   know    that   many   people   have   lived    just   as   decent 


JEPPE  ON  THE  HILL.  29 

lives  as  I  have,  why,  then,  should  I  alone  come  to 
heaven?  Therefore,  it  can't  be  heaven.  But  what  can 
it  be?  I  am  not  asleep,  I  am  not  awake;  I  am  not 
dead,  I  am  not  alive;  I  am  not  crazy,  I  am  not  sane; 
I  am  Jeppe  on  the  Hill,  I  am  not  Jeppe  on  the  Hill; 
I  am  poor,  I  am  rich;  I  am  a  poor  peasant,  I  am 
a  king.     Ah!— Ah!— Ah!     Help!      Help'      Help! 

(At  the  great  commotion  several  people  come  in  who 
in  the  meantime  have  stood  by,  watching  to  see  how 
he  would  act.) 

Scene  2. 
Valet.    A  lackey.    Jeppe. 

Valet — I  wish  your  lordship  a  hearty  good  morning! 
Here's  a  gown  if  your  lordship  wishes  to  arise.  Erik, 
fetch  a  towel  and  a  wash  basin. 

Jeppe — Ah,  my  worshipful  valet!  I  should  be  glad 
to  arise,  but  I  beg  of  you  that  you  do  not  hurt  me. 

Valet — The  Lord  deliver  me  from  doing  your  lord- 
ship any  harm! 

Jeppe — Ah,  before  you  kill  me,  will  you  not  do  me 
the  favDr  to  tell  me  who  I  am? 

Valet — Does  not  my  lord  know  who  he  is? 

Jeppe — Yesterday  I  was  Jeppe  on  the  Hill,  but 
to-day — ah,  I  hardly  know  what  to  say! 

Valet — We  are  glad  to  see  that  your  lordship  is  in 
such  good  humor  to-day,  that  you  are  pleased  to  jest; 
but  heaven  defend  us,  why  does  your  lordship  weep? 

Jeppe — I  am  not  your  lordship.  I  can  make  my 
oath  that  I  am  not;  for  so  far  as  I  can  remember  I 
am  Jeppe  Nielsen  on  the  Hill,  one  of  the  Baron's 
peasants.  If  you  will  send  for  my  wife  you  shall 
find  it  out;  but  don't  let  her  take  Master  Erik  along. 

Erik,  lackey — This  is  strange.  What  can  it  be?  Your 
lordship  cannot  be  awake,  since  you  never  used  to  jest 
in  this  way. 

Jeppe — Whether  I  am  awake  or  not  I  cannot  say; 
but  one  thing  I  can  say  and  that  is  that  I  am  one  of 
the  Baron's  peasants  who  is  called  Jeppe  on  the  Hill, 
and  I  have  never  been  either  Baron  or  Count  in 
my  life. 


OFTHE 


UNIVERSITY 


30  JEPPE  ON  THE  HILL. 

Valet — Erik,  what  can  that  be?  I  am  afraid  that 
his  lordship  is  suffering  from  some  strange  disease. 

Erik — I  imagine  that  he  is  walking  in  his  sleep,  since 
it  frequently  happens  that  people  arise,  dress,  eat  and 
drink  in  their  sleep. 

Valet — No,  Erik,  I  perceive  that  his  lordship  is  de- 
lirious. Go  and  fetch  a  doctor  immediately.  Ah,  your 
lordship,  put  all  such  thoughts  away;  your  lordship  is 
frightening  the  whole  house.  Does  your  lordship  not 
know  me? 

Jeppe — I  don't  know  myself;  how  can  I  then  know 
you? 

Valet — Ah,  is  it  possible  that  I  should  hear  such 
words  from  the  lips  of  my  gracious  lord,  and  see  him 
in  such  a  pitiable  condition?  Ah,  our  unfortunate  house, 
which  must  be  plagued  by  such  sorcery!  Can  my  lord 
not  remember  what  he  did  yesterday  when  he  was 
out  on  the  hunt? 

Jeppe — I  have  never  been  either  hunter  or  poacher 
in  my  life;  you  know  that  is  work  which  may  send  you 
to  prison!  Never  shall  any  soul  be  able  to  prove  that 
I  have  ever  hunted  a  hare  on  the  lord's  estate! 

Valet — Ah,  gracious  lord,  I  was  with  you  on  the 
hunt  myself  yesterday. 

Jeppe — Yesterday  I  sat  at  Jakob  Skomager's  and 
drank  up  twelve  pence  worth  of  whiskey.  How  could 
I  then  have  been  on  a  hunt? 

Valet — Ah,  I  implore  my  gracious  lord  on  my  knees 
that  he  do  not  indulge  in  such  talk.  Erik,  were  the 
doctors   sent  for? 

Erik — Yes,  they  are   coming  soon. 

Valet— Let  us  assist  our  lord  in  putting  on  his  dress- 
ing gown.  Perhaps  when  he  comes  out  in  the  fresh 
air  it  will  be  better.  Does  our  lord  wish  to  have  on 
his  gown? 

Jeppe — Most  willingly.  You  may  do  with  me  what 
you  like,  if  only  you  do  not  take  my  life,  for  I  am  as 
innocent  as  an  unborn  babe. 

Scene  3. 
A  valet    Erik.    Jeppe.    Two  doctors. 

First  Doctor— We  hear  with  great  regret  that  your 
lordship  is  indisposed. 


JEPPE  ON  THE  HILL.  31 

Valet — Alas,  yes,  doctor;  he  is  in  a  pitiful  state. 

Second  Doctor — How  is  everything  with  you,  my 
gracious  lord? 

Jeppe — Quite  well!  Except  that  I  am  rather  thirsty 
after  the  whiskey  which  I  got  at  Jakob  Skomager's  yes- 
terday. If  you  will  only  give  me  a  mug  of  beer  and 
let  me  go,  then  they  may  hang  you  two  doctors  up  for 
all  I  care,  because  I  don't  need  any  medicine. 

First  Doctor — That  is  certainly  a  clear  case  of  hallu- 
cinations. 

Second  Doctor — But  the  more  violent  the  disease  is 
the  sooner  he  will  get  over  it.  Let  us  feel  our  lord- 
ship's pulse.     Quid  tibi  videtur,  domine  frater? 

First  Doctor — I  am  not  of  that  opinion.  Such 
strange  weaknesses  must  be  cured  in  another  fashion. 
Our  lordship  has  had  an  awful  and  gruesome  dream, 
which  has  brought  the  blood  into  such  commotion  and 
so  confused  his  brain  that  he  imagines  himself  a  pea- 
sant. We  must  try  to  divert  him  with  the  things  in 
which  he  finds  the  most  pleasure;  give  him  the  wines 
and  foods  which  suit  him  best,  and  play  for  him  his 
favorite  pieces  of  music. 

(Lively  music  begins.) 

Valet — Why,  that  is  my  lord's  tarorite  piece. 

Jeppe — Perhaps  so.  Do  you  always  have  such  fun 
in  this  place? 

Yalet — As  often  as  your  lordship  wishes;  since  it 
is  you  who  gives  us  our  wages. 

Jeppe — But  it  is  strange  that  1  cannot  remember 
what  I  have  done  in  the  past. 

First  Doctor — That  is  the  result  of  the  sickness,  your 
lordship,  that  one  forgets  everything  that  he  has  done 
before.  I  recollect  that  one  of  my  neighbors  a  few 
years  ago  became  so  delirious  from  strong  drink  that 
he  made  himself  believe  for  two  days  that  he  had  no 
head. 

Jeppe — I  wish  that  Christopher,  the  bailiff,  would 
get  the  same  idea,  but  he  must  have  a  sickness  which 
is  just  opposite  to  this;  since  he  imagined  that  he 
has  a  big  head,  while  he  really  has  none  at  all,  as  one 
can  see  from  his  decisions. 


32  JEPPE  ON  THE  HILL. 

(They  all  laugh  at  this:     Ha,  ha,  na.) 

Seconl  Doctor — It  is  a  pleasure  to  hear  our  lordship 
jest.  But  to  come  back  to  the  story  again,  that  same 
person  went  all  over  town  and  asked  people  if  they 
had  found  his  head,  which  he  had  lost,  but  he  got  well 
again  and  is  at  this  day  sexton  in  Jutland. 

Jeppe — He  might  be  that,  even  if  he  had  not  found 
his  wits  again. 

(All  laugh:     Ha,  ha,  ha.) 

First  Doctor — Does  my  colleague  remember  the  story 
or  what  happened  ten  years  since  to  the  man  who 
imagined  that  his  head  was  full  of  flies?  He  could  not 
get  rid  of  the  notion  no  matter  how  much  one  argued 
with  him,  until. a  shrewd,  doctor  cured  him  in  this  wise: 
He  laid  a  plaster  covered  with  dead  flies  on  his  head, 
and  aft^r  some  time  he  pulled  it  off,  showed  it  to  the 
patient,  made  him  believe  that  they  had  been  extracted 
from  his  head,  whereupon  the  patient  became  well  again. 

Second  Doctor — There  are  innumerable  examples  of 
such  illusions.  I  remember  also  of  having  heard  of  one 
who  made  himself  believe  that  his  nose  was  ten  feet 
lcng  and  warned  everyone  whom  he  met  not  to  come 
too  near  to  him. 

First  Doctor — That  is  what  is  the  matter  with  our 
gracious  lord.  He  imagines  that  he  is  a  poor  peasant. 
But  he  must  get  rid  of  such  thoughts,  then  he  will  soon 
become  well  again. 

Jeppe — But  can  it  be  possible  that  it  is  only  imagin- 
ation? 

First  Doctor — Certainly!  Your  lordship  has  heard 
from  these  stories  what  imagination  can  do. 

Jeppe — Am  I  not  then  Jeppe  on  the  Hill? 

Second  Doctor — No,  certainly  not. 

Jeppe — Is  the  wicked  Nille  not  my  wife? 

First  Doctor — By  no  means,  since  my  lord  is  a  wid- 
ower. 

Jeppe — Is  it  then  nothing  but  imagination  that  she 
has  a  switch  called  Master  Erik? 

Second  Doctor — Purely  imagination. 

Jeppe — Is  it  then  not  true  that  I  was  to  go  to  town 
yesterday  to  buy  soap? 


JEPPE  ON  THE  HILL.  33 

First  Doctor — No. 

Jeppe— Nor  yet,  that  I  drank  up  all  the  money  at 
Jakob  nkomager's? 

Valet — Why,  my  lord  was  with  us  on  a  hunt  all 
day  yesterday. 

Jeppe — Nor  yet  that  I  am  henpecked? 

Valet — Why,  your  wife  has  been  dead  for  many 
years. 

Jeppe — Ah,  I  am  beginning  to  understand  my  weak-, 
ness.  I  will  hot  think  of  that  peasant  any  longer,  for 
I  see  that  it  is  nothing  but  a  dream  and  a  mistake.  Isn't 
it  strange  though  how  a  person  can  fall  into  such  an 
error? 

Valet — Will  it  please  your  lordship  to  take  a  walk 
in  the  garden  while  we  prepare  a  little  breakfast? 

Jeppe — To  be  sure,  but  see  that  you  are  quick  about 
it,  for  I  am  both  hungry  and  thirsty. 
(Curtain.) 

ACT  III. 

Scene  1. 

Jeppe.    Valet.    Secretary. 

(Jeppe  comes  in  from  the  garden  with  his  suite  and 
a  little  table  is  spread  before  him.) 

Jeppe— Ha!     Ha!     I  see  the  table  is  already  set. 

Valet — Yes,  everything  is  ready  whenever  it  shall 
please  your  lordship  to  be  seated. 

(Jeppe  seats  himself.  The  others  stand  back  of  the 
chair  and  laugh  at  his  awkwardness  when  he  reaches 
his  hand  into  the  dish,  hiccoughs  over  the  table,  and 
behaves  very  boorishly.) 

Valet — Will  my  lord  let  us  know  what  wine  he 
wishes? 

Jeppe — You  know  very  well  yourselves  what  wine 
I  am  used  to  drinking  in  the  morning. 

Valet — It  is  Rhenish  wine  which  his  lordship  is  ac- 
customed to  drink.  If  it  is  not  to  his  lordship's  taste 
he  can  have  another  kind. 

Jeppe — It  is  pretty  sour.  You  must  put  some  mead 
in  it  to  make  it  good,  for  I  like  sweet  things. 


34  JEPPE  ON  THE  HILL. 

Valet — Here  is  some  Canary  sack,  if  my  lord  wishes 
to  taste  it. 

Jeppe— That  is  good  wine.  Let's  all  drink  together! 
(Every  time  he  drinks  the  trumpets  blow.)  Hey! 
Watch  jut,  fellows!  One  more  glass  of  sack!  Do  you 
understaad?  Where  did  you  get  that  ring  that  you 
have  on  your  finger? 

Secretary — Your  lordship  gave  it  to  mé  yourself, 
self. 

Jeppe — I  don't  remember  that.  Give  it  back  to  me, 
I  must  have  done  that  while  drunk.  One  doesn't  give 
such  rings  away.  I'll  have  to  look  into  this  and  see 
what  other  things  you  have  received.  Servants  shall 
not  have  more  than  board  and  wages!  I  swear  that 
I  do  not  remember  of  having  given  you  anything  in 
particular;  for  why  should  I  do  it?  That  ring  is  worth 
over  a  guinea.  No,  no,  good  fellows!  Not  so!  You 
must  not  take  advantage  of  your  master's  weakness 
and  drunkenness.  When  I  am  drunk  I  am  as  likely 
as  not  to  gi.ve  my  very  trousers  away;  but  when  1  have 
become  sober  I  take  back  my  gifts  again.  Otherwise 
I  should  catch  the  mischief  from  my  wife,  Nille.  Hold, 
what  am  I  saying?  Now  I  am  getting  into  those  foolish 
ideas  again  and  don't  remember  who  I  am.  Another 
glass  of  sack.  The  same  toast.  (Trumpets  blow  again.) 
Listen  to  what  I  say,  fellows!  After  this,  remember 
that  when  I  give  anything  away  in  the  evening  while 
drunk,  you  must  give  it  back  to  me  in  the  morning. 
When  servants  get  more  money  than  they  can  spend 
they  become  proud  and  turn  up  their  noses  at  their 
masters.     What  are  your  wages? 

Secretary — My  lord  has  always  given  me  two  hun- 
dred a  year. 

Jeppe — You  shall  have  the  devil,  not  two  hundred 
after  this!  What  do  you  do  to  earn  two  hundred? 
I  myself  must  work  like  a  beast  and  stand  in  the  gran- 
ary from  morning  till  evening  and  can  hardly —  See, 
now  those  peasant  notions  are  coming  into  my  mind 
again!  Give  me  another  glass  of  wine.  (He  drinks  and 
the  trumpets  blow.)  Two  Rixdollars!  Why  that's  sim- 
ply to  skin  your  masters.     Listen!     Do  you  know  what, 


JEPPE  ON  THE  HILL.  35 


you  fellows!  When  I  have  eaten  I  have  a  good  mind 
to  hang  every  other  cne  on  the  estate.  You  must  know 
that  I  am  not  to  be  trifled  with  in  money  matters. 

Valet — We  will  return  everything  that  we  have  re- 
ceived from  your  lordship. 

Jeppe — Yes,  yes!  Your  lordship!  Your  lordship! 
Compliments  and  words  are  cheap  in  these  times.  You 
will  flatter  me  with  "your  lordship"  until  you  get  all 
my  money  and  become  "my  lordship"  in  turn.  The  lips 
may  say,  "  Your  lordship,"  but  the  heart  says,  "You 
fool."  You're  not  saying  what  you  think,  fellows!  You 
servants  are  just  like  Abner  who  came  and  greeted 
Roland  with,  "Hail  to  thee,  my  brother!"  and  at  the 
same  time  struck  the  dagger  in  his  v»eart.  Believe  me, 
Jeppe  is  no  fool. 

(They  all  fall  on  their  knees  and  sue  for  pardon.) 

Jeppe — Just  rise  again,  my  lads,  until  I  have  done 
eating;  after  that  I  will  see  how  matters  stand,  and 
who  deserves  to  be  hanged.     Now,  I  will  be  merry. 

Scene  2. 

Jeppe.    Yalet.    Overseer.    Secretary. 

Jeppe — Where  is  my  overseer? 
.    Yalet — He  is  just  outside. 

Jeppe — Let  him  come  in  at  once. 

Overseer  (enters  dressed  in  a  coat  with  silver  but- 
tons and  a  sash  about  the  waist) — Has  my  lord  any  com- 
mands? 

Jeppe — None,  except  that  you  are  to  be  hanged! 

Overseer — I  have  done  nothing  wrong,  my  lord! 
Why  should  I  be  hanged? 

Jeppe — Are  you  not  the  manager? 

Overseer — Yes,  I  am,  my  lord. 

Jeppe — And  still  you  ask  why  you  shall  be  hanged? 

Overseer — You  know  I  have  served  your  lordship 
honestly  and  faithfully,  and  been  s  so  diligent  in  my 
duties  that  your  lordship  has  praised  me  above  your 
other  servants. 

Jeppe — Yes,  to  be  sure  you  have  taken  good  care  of 
your  office;  one  can  see  that  from  your  silver  buttons, — 
what  do  you  get  a  year? 


36  JEPPE  ON  THE  HILL. 


Overseer — Fifty  Rixdollars  a  year, 

Jeppe  (walks  back  and  forth  excitedly) — Half  a  hun- 
dred a  year — yes,  you  shall  immediately  be  hanged. 

Overseer — It  could  hardly  be  less,  gracious  lord,  for 
a  whole  gear's  hard  work. 

Jeppe — Just  for  that  reason  you  shall  be  hanged, 
since  you  receive  only  fifty  Rixdollars!  You  have  money 
for  a  silver  buttoned  coat,  for  lace  cuffs,  a  silk  net  for 
your  hair,  and  still  you  get  only  fifty  Rixdollars  per 
year!  Is  it  not  plain  that  you  steal  from  me,  poor  man, 
or  where  should  it  all  come  from? 

Overseer  (on  his  knees) — Ah,  gracious  lord,  only 
spare  me  for  the  sake  of  my  poor  wife  and  little  chil- 
dren. 

Jeppe — Have  you  many  children? 

Overseer — I  have  seven  children  living,  my  lord! 

Jeppe — Ha,  ha,  seven  living  children?  Away,  hang 
him,  secretary! 

Secretary — Oh,  gracious  lord,  I  am  no  hangman! 

Jeppe — What  you  are  not,  you  may  become ;  you  look 
a;s  though  you  were  equal  to  anything.  When  you  have 
hanged  him,  I  shall  hang  you  afterwards  myself. 

Overseer — Ah,  gracious  lord!     Is  there  no  pardon? 

Jeppe  (walks  back  and  forth,  sits  down  to  take  a 
drink  and  rises  again) — Half  a  hundred  Rixdollars,  wife 
and  seven  children.  If  no  one  else  will  hang  you  I  will 
do  it  myself.  I  know  very  well  what  sort  of  fellows 
you  are,  you  overseers;  I  know  how  you  have  treated 
me  and  other  poor  peasants —  Ah,  now  those  cursed 
peasant  notions  are  coming  into  my  head  again.  I 
mean  to  say  I  know  the  way  you  conduct  yourselves 
so  well  that  I  myself  could  be  overseer  if  I  had  to. 
You  get  the  cream  of  the  milk  and  the  Baron  gets — 
something  else."  I  believe  that  if  the  world  lasts  much 
longer  overseers  will  become  noblemen  and  noblemen, 
overseers.  When  a  peasant  gives  a  little  something  to 
either  you  or  your  wives,  then  when  you  come  to  your 
master  the  story  is:  that  poor  man  is  willing  and  in- 
dustrious enough,  but  various  misfortunes  have  come 
on  him  so  he  cannot  pay;  he  has  a  bad  piece  of  ground 
his  cattle  have  become  scabby,  or  something  like  thr 


JEPPE  ON  THE  HILL.  37 

With  such  talk  the  landlord  must  be  satisfied.  Believe 
me,  my  good  fellows,  I  don't  let  people  lead  me  around 
by  the  nose;  since  I  myself  am  a  peasant  and  the  son 
of  a  peasant —  There,  now  t.'.at  nonsense  is  coming 
into  my  mind  again.  I  said  I  myself  am  the  son  of  a 
peasant,  since  Abraham  and  Eve,  our  first  parents,  were 
peasants. 

Secretary  (kneels  before  him) — Ah,  gracious  lord, 
have  pity  on  him  for  his  poor  wife's  sake,  for  other- 
wise, how  will  he  be  able  to  live  and  support  wife  and 
children? 

Jeppe — Who  says  they  shall  live?  They  can  be 
hanged,  too. 

Secretary — Ah,  my  lord,  she  is  such  a  fine  looking 
woman. 

Jeppe — Well,  well,  perhaps  you  are  in  love  with  her, 
since  you  take  such  an  interest  in  her.  Let  her  come 
in. 

Scene  3. 
Overseer's  wife.    Jeppe.    The  others. 

(Wife  comes  in  and  kisses  him  on  the  hand.) 

Jeppe — Are  you  the  overseer's  wife? 

Woman — Yes,  I  am,  gracious  lord. 

Jeppe  (pats  her  on  the  cheek) — You  are  real  nice. 
Won't  you  sit  down  at  the  table  with  me? 

Woman — My  lord  has  only  to  command;  I  am  at  his 
service. 

Jeppe  (to  the  overseer) — Will  you  let  your  wife  eat 
with  me? 

Overseer — I  thank  your  lordship  that  you  do  me  the 
honor. 

Jepp.i — See  here,  place  a  chair  for  her,  she  shall 
sit  at  the  table  with  me. 

(She  seats  herself  at  the  table,  eats  and  drinks  with 
him;  he  becomes  jealous  of  the  secretary  and  whenever 
he  looks  at  him,  the  secretary  immediately  looks  the 
other  way.  He  sings  an  old-fashioned  love  song  while 
they  are  sitting  at  the  table.  Jeppe  orders  the  musi- 
cians to  play  a  polka  and  dances  with  her,  but  falls 
Lhree  times  from  drunkenness,  and  the  fourth  time  he 
yemains  lying  and  falls  asleep.) 


38  JEPPE  ON  THE  HILL. 

Scene  4. 
The  Baron.    The  others. 

Baron    (who  has  hitherto  played  the  part  of  secre- 
tary)— He    sleeps    soundly   already.      Now    the    game    is 
ours;   but  we  came  near  being  fooled  ourselves,  for  he 
was  bound  to  tyrrannize  over  us,  whereupon  we  either 
had   to   spoil  the  joke,  or   allow  ourselves   to   be   mal- 
f  treated  by  that  rude  peasant,  from  whose  conduct  one 
S  may  learn  how  tyrannical  and  proud  such  people  may 
Vbecome   who   through    some   accident   or   other   achieve 
Ihonor  or  position.     My  disguising  myself  as  a  secretary 
came  near  being  my  misfortune,  for  if  I  had  allowed 
him  to  strike  me  it  might  have  become  a  pretty  serious 
affair  and  have  made  me  no  less  than  the  peasant,  an 
object  of  ridicule.     We  had  better  let  him  sleep  a  little 
now  before  we  put  him  back  in  his  filthy  peasant  clothes. 

Erik — Ah,  my  lord,  he  sleeps  as  sound  as  a  stone. 
See  here!     I  can  pound  him  without  his  feeling  it. 

Baron — Take  him  away,  then,  and  complete  the  com- 
edy. 

(Curtain.) 
ACT  IV. 
Scene  1. 

Jeppe  (represented  lying  on  a  dung  heap  in  his  old 
peasant  clothes,  awakes  and  cries:) — Hey,  secretary! 
Valets!  Lackeys!  One  more  glass  of  canaille  sack! 
(Looks  around  and  rubs  his  eyes,  blinks  as  before,  feels 
oi  his  head,  looks  at  his  old  wide  brimmed  hat,  turns 
the  hat  around  on  all  sides,  looks  at  his  clothes,  recog- 
nizes himself,  begins  to  speak.)  How  long  was  Abra- 
ham in  Paradise?  Now  I  recognize  to  my  sorrow, 
everything,  my  bed,  my  coat,  my  old  hat,  myself;  this 
is  something  else,  Jeppe,  than  drinking  canaille  sack 
from  golden  goblets  and  sitting  at  table  with  lackeys  and 
secretaries'  at  one's  command.  Good  luck  never  lasts 
very  long.  Ah!  Ah!  to  think  that  I  who  was  such 
a  gracious  lord  only  a  short  time  ago  should  see  my- 
self in  such  a  condition  now;  my  splendid  bed  changed 
to  a  dungheap,  my  gold  embroidered  cap  to  an  old, 
wornout  hat,  my  lackeys  to  swjne,  and  myself  from  a 


JEPPE  ON  THE  HILL. 


gracious  lord  to  a  miserable  peasant.  I  expected  when 
I  woke  up  to  find  my  fingers  bedecked  with  rings,  but 
they  are  (to  speak  reverently)  bedecked  with  some- 
thing else.  I  expected  to  call  my  servants  to  account, 
but  now  I  must  myself  offer  my  own  back  for  punish- 
ment when  I  come  home  and  gjv«»  an  account  of 
myself.  I  thought  when  I  woke  to  reach  for  a  glass  of 
sack,  but  got  instead  something  quite  different.  Ah! 
Ah!  Jeppe,  that  stay  in  Paradise  was  but  short  and 
your  happiness  soon  came  to  an  end.  But  who  knows 
i  i  the  same  thing  could  not  happen  to  me  again  if  I 
lay  down  to  rest  once  more?  Ah!  ah!  if  it  would  only 
come  to  me  again!  Ah!  if  I  could  only  get  back  to 
Paradise.  (Lies  down  to  sleep  again.) 
Scene  2. 

Jeppe.    Nille. 

Nille — I  wonder  if  something  has  happened  to  him? 
What  caa  this  mean?  Either  the  devil  has  taken  him 
or  (what  I  am  more  afraid  of)  he  is  sitting  in  an  inn 
and  drinking  up  the  money.  I  was  a  fool  when  I  trusted 
that  drunkard  with  twelve  pence  at  one  time.  But 
what  do  J  see?  Does  he  not  lie  there  in  the  filth  snor- 
ing? Ah!  poor  me,  who  must  have  such  a  beast  of  a 
husband!     Your  back  shall  pay  dearly  enough  for  this. 

(Steals  over  to  him  and  gives  him  a  whack  from 
Master  Erik  on  the  back.) 

Jeppe— Hey!  Hey!  Help!  Help!  What  is  that? 
Where  am  I?  Who  am  I?  Who  hits  me?  Why  do  you 
hit  me?     Hey! 

Nille — I  shall  soon  teach  you  what  it  is.  (Strikes 
him  again  and  pulls  him  around  by  the  hair.) 

Jeppe — Ah,  Nille,  my  dear!  Don't  strike  me  any 
more,  you  don't  know  what  has  happened  to  me. 

Nille— Where  have  you  been  so  long,  you  drunken 
dog?     Where  is  the  soap  you  were  to  buy? 

Jeppe — I  could  not  get  to  town,  Nille. 

Nille — Why  could  you  not  get  to  town? 

Jeppe — I  was  taken  up  to  Paradise  on  the  way. 

Nille — To  Paradise!  (Strikes  him.)  To  Paradise! 
(Strikes  him  again.)  To  Paradise!  (Strikes  him 
again.)     Are  you  going  to  make  fun  of  me  besides? 


40 


JEPPE  ON  THE  HILL. 


Jeppe — Ow!  Ow!  Ow!  As  sure  as  I  am  an  honest 
man  it  is  not  true. 

]Ville — What  is  true? 
Jeppe — That  I  have  been  in  Paradise. 

(Nille  repeats,  "In  Paradise,"  and  strikes  him  again.) 

Jeppe — Ah,  Nille,  my  dear,  don't  hit  me  any  more. 

Xill'3 — Quick!  Confess  where  you  have  been  or  I 
will  murder  you! 

Jeppe — Ah,  I  would  gladly  confess  where  I  have  been 
if  you  would  not  strike  me  any  more. 

Nille— Confess,  then! 

Jeppe — Swear  that  you  will  not  strike  me  any  more, 
then. 

Nille— No. 

Jeppe: — As  true  as  I  am  an  honest  man  and  my 
name  is  Jeppe  on  the  Hill,  I  have  been  in  Paradise 
and  seen  things  that  will  make  you  wonder  when  you 
hear  them. 

(Nille  thrashes  him  again  and  drags  him  in  by  the 
hair.) 


NILLE  POUNDING  JEPPE. 


JEPPE  ON  THE  HILL.  41 

Scene  3. 

Mile  (alone) — There,  you  drunken  beast!  Sleep  till 
you  get  sober,  then  we  shall  talk  further  about  this 
matter.  Such  swine  as  you  are  don't  get  into  Paradise. 
Only  think  how  that  beast  has  drunk  his  senses  away! 
But  if  he  has  been  enjoying  himself  at  my  expense  then 
ho  shall  certainly  suffer  for  it.  For  two  days  he  shall 
get  neither  food  nor  drink.  Before  that  time  has  passed 
he  will  get  over  his  notions  of  Paradise. 
Scene  4. 
Three  armed  men.    Nille. 

First  Soldier — Is  there  a  man  living  here  by  the 
name  of  Jeppe? 

Xille — Yes,  there  is. 

Soldiers — Are  you  his  wife? 

Xille — Yes,  I  am  sorry  to  say.     God  help  me! 

Soldiers — We  must  see  him. 

Nille — He   is   quite   drunk. 

Soldiers — That  makes  no  difference,  away!  Bring 
him  out,  or  the  whole  house  will  get  into  trouble. 

(Nille  goes  in,  kicks  Jeppe  out  with  such  force  that 
he  knocks  down  all  three  men.) 
Scene  5. 
Three  armed  men.    Jeppe. 

Jeppe — Ah!  Ah!  Now  you  see,  my  good  fellows, 
what  kind  of  wife  I  have  to  live  with. 

Soldiers — You  don't  deserve  any  other  treatment,  for 
you  are  a  felon.     (They  take  Jeppe  away.) 

Jeppe— What  harm  have  I  done? 

Soldiers — You  shall  find  that  out  soon  enough  when 
the  court  is  held.     (They  bind  him.) 
Scene  6. 
Two   lawyers.     The  judge.     Jeppe. 

(The  judge  comes  in  with  an  attendant  and  seats 
himself  by  a  table,  while  Jeppe  is  tied  by  the  hands 
and  brought  before  the  court.  One  of  the  lawyers 
steps  forward  and  makes  his  charge  thus:) 

First  Lawyer — Here  is  a  man,  your  honor,  who,  we 
can  testify,  has  stolen  into  the  Baron's  house,  pretended 


42  JEPPE  ON  THE  HILL. 


he  was  the  Baron,  put  on  his  clothes,  tyrannized  over 
his  servants,  which,  since  it  is  an  outrageous  act,  we 
insist,  on  behalf  of  our  client  that  it  should  be  punished 
severely,  so  that  other  criminals  may  take  warning 
from  him. 

Judge — Are  you  guilty  of  the  offence  which  is  charged 
against  you?  Speak  up.  What  have  you  to  say  in 
ycur  own  defence,  for  we  do  not  wish  to  judge  until 
we  hear  both  sides? 

Jeppe — Ah,  my  poor  soul!  What  shall  I  say?  I 
admit  :hat  I  have  deserved  punishment,  but  only  for 
the  money  which  I  drank  up  and  which  I  was  to  have 
bought  soap  with;  I  confess,  also,  that  I  have  lately 
been  at  a  castle,  but  how  I  got  there  and  how  I  got 
away  from  there,  I  do  not  know. 

Plaintiff  (First  Lawyer) — Your  honor  hears  from  his 
own  confession  that  he  has  drunk  to  excess,  and  in  his 
intoxication  committed  such  an  unheard-of  misdemeanor. 
And  it  now  only  remains  to  determine  whether  such  a 
serious  crime  can  be  excused  on  the  ground  of  drunk- 
enness. I  say  no!  Since  if  that  is  the  case,  no  crime 
would  be  punished.  Everyone  would  be  seeking  some 
such  excuse  and  say  that  it  was  done  in  drunkenness; 
and  even  if  he  can  prove  himself  to  have  been  drunk, 
his  case  will  not  thereby  be  improved;  for  it  is  a  rule 
iii  law  'hat  what  a  man  does  in  drunkenness  he  shall 
be  held  responsible  for  when  he  becomes  sober. 

Defendant  (Second  Lawyer) — Your  honor!  This  mat- 
ter appears  so  strange  to  me  that  I  can  hardly  believe 
it,  even  if  there  were  more  witnesses.  How  could  a 
guileless  peasant  steal  in  upon  his  lordship's  estate,  and 
assume  his  position,  without  being  able  to  assume 
his  face  or  his  form!  How  could  he  come  into  my 
lord's  sleeping-chamber?  How  could  be  get  to  his  ward- 
robe without  some  one  seeing  him?  No,  your  honor, 
one  can  see  that  it  is  a  conspiracy  hatched  up  by  the 
poor  man's  enemies.  I  hope,  therefore,  that  he  will 
be  acquitted. 

Jeppe  (weeping)— Ah!  God  bless  your  lips!  I  have 
a  plug  of  tobacco  in  my  pocket,  if  you  would  like  some; 
it  is  good  enough  for  any  honest  man. 


IFORNVj 
JEPPE  ON  THE  HILL.  43 

Second  Lawyer — No  thanks,  keep  your  tobacco,  Jep- 
pe. I  am  defending  you  not  for  money  or  gifts  but 
only  from  a  sense  of  Christian  charity. 

Jeppe — I  beg  your  pardon,  Mr.  Lawyer,  I  had  not 
thought  that  lawyers  were  so  honest! 

First  Lawyer — That  which  my  colleague  adduces  for 
the  acquittal  of  this  felon  is  based  entirely  on  guess 
work.  The  question  in 'this  case  is  not  whether  it  is 
probable  that  such  a  thing  could  occur,  for  it  has  al- 
ready been  proved,  by  witnesses  as  well  as  by  his  own 
confession,  that  it  did  occur. 

Second  Lawyer — What  a  man  confesses  through  fear 
and  intimidation  cannot  be  considered  in  law.  I  ask, 
therefore,  that  this  poor  man  be  given  time  for  re- 
flection, and  that  he  be  asked  the  same  questions  once 
more.  Listen,  Jeppe,  mind  now  what  you  say.  Do  you 
confess  that  of  which  you  are  accused? 

Jeppe — No!  I  make  my  oath  that  everything  which 
I  have  said  before  is  a  lie;  for  I  have  not  been  but 
of  my  house  for  three  days! 

First  Lawyer — Your  honor,  I  am  firmly  of  the  opinion 
that  anyone  who  has  first  been  proved  guilty  by  wit- 
nesses, and  later  has  confessed  his  own  misdeeds  should 
not  be  permitted  to  make  a  sworn  statement. 

Second  Lawyer — I  say  yes, — 

First  Lawyer — 1   say  no! 

Second  Lawyer — When  the  case  is  of  such  a  peculiar 
nature. 

First  Lawyer — No  circumstances  can  prevail  against 
witnesses  and  the  defendant's  own  confession. 

Jeppe  (aside) — Ah,  if  they  could  only  get  into  a 
scrap  wi^h  each  other!  In  the  meantime  I  should  get 
hold  of  the  judge  and  pound  him,  so  he  would  forget 
both  law  and  justice. 

Secoiid  Lawyer — But  listen,  Herr  Colleague!  Al- 
though he  confesses  the  deed,  he  has  not  deserved  pun- 
ishment; for  he  has  committed  no  crime  on  the  estate, 
neither  murder  nor  robbery. 

First  Lawyer — That  makes  no  difference;  intentio 
furandi  is  the  same  as  furtum'. 


44  JEPPE  ON  THE  HILL. 

Jeppe — Talk  Danish,  you  dirty  dog!  Then  we'll  be 
able  to  defend  ourselves  all  right. 

First  Lawyer — For  whether  it  is  found  that  a  person 
intends  to  steal,  or  does  steal,  he  is  a  thief. 

Jepp? — Ah,  my  gracious  judge,  I  should  gladly  be 
hanged,  if  that  lawyer  could  be  hanged  at  my  side. 

Second  Lawyer — Don't  talk  that  way,  Jeppe,  you 
only  injure  your  own  cause  by  it. 

Jeppe — Why  don't  you  answer,  then?  (Aside.)  He 
stands  iliere  like  a  dumb  fool. 

Second  Lawyer — But  how  do  you  prove  furandi  pro- 
positum? 

First  Lawyer — Quicumque  in  aedes  alienas  noctu  ir- 
rumpit,  tanquam  fur  aut  nocturnus  grassator  existi- 
mandus  est,  atqui  reus  hie  ita,  ergo. 

Second  Lawyer — Nego  majorem,  qvod  scilicit  irru- 
perit. 

First  Lawyer — Res  manifesta  est,  tot  legitimis  testi- 
bus  exstantibus,  ac  confitenti  reo. 

Second  Lawyer — Quicumque  vi  vel  metu  coactus 
fuerit  confiteri — 

First  Lawyer — But  where  is  that  vis?  Where  is  that 
metus?    That  is  but  chicanery. 

Second  Lawyer— No,  you  are  using  chicane. 

First  Lawyer — No  honest  man  shall  accuse  me  of 
such  a  '  hing. 

(The  iawyers  grapple,  and  Jeppe  runs  over  and  pulls 
the  wig  off  the  first  lawyer  and  strikes  him  on  the  head 
with  it) 

Judge— Order  in  the  courtroom!  Stop,  I  have  heard 
enough!  (Reads  his  verdict:)  Whereas  Jeppe  on  the 
Hill,  son  of  Niels  on  the  Hill,  and  grandson  of 
Jeppe  from  the  same  place,  is  proved  by  legal  witnesses 
as  well  as  by  his  own  confession  to  have  surreptitiously 
entered  the  Baron's  castle,  put  on  his  clothes,  and  mal- 
treated his  servants,  he  is  condemned  to  d[e  ]3X_pQison, 
åncT  when  he  is  dead  his  body  shall  be  hanged  on  the 
gallows. 

Jeppe— Ah!  Ah!  Gracious  judge!  Is  there  no  par- 
don? 


JEPPE  ON  THE  HILL.  45 

Judge — None.  The  sentence  shall  be  executed  im- 
mediately in  my  presence. 

Jeppe— Ah!  Won't  you  give  me  a  glass  of  whiskey 
before  I  drink  the  poison  so  that  I  can  die  like  a  sol- 
dier? 

Judge — Yes,  that  is  permitted. 

Jeppe  (drinks  three  glasses  of  whiskey,  falls  on  his 
knees  and  asks:) — Is  there  then  no  pardon? 

Judge — No,  Jeppe!     It  is  too  late  now. 

Jeppe — Ah!  But  it  isn't  too  late!  The  judge  can 
surely  change  the  sentence,  and  say  that  it  was  all 
wrong  the  first  time.  Why,  that  happens  often,  for  we 
are  all  human. 

Judge — No,  you  shall  feel  yourself  in  a  few  minutes 
that  it  is  too  late;  for  you  have  already  taken  the 
poison  in  the  whiskey. 

Jeppe — Ah,  poor  me!  Have  I  already  taken  the 
poison?  Ah,  goodbye,  Nille!  Still,  you  fiend,  you  don't 
deserve  to  have  me  bid  you  farewell;  goodbye  Jens, 
Niels  and  Christoffer!  Goodbye,  my  daughter  Martha; 
goodbye,  the  apple  of  my  eye!  You  have  your  father's 
face;  we  look  as  much  alike  as  two  drops  of  water. 
Goodbye,  my  dappled  horse,  and  thanks  for  every  time 
I  have  ridden  on  you ;  Nnext  to  my  own  children  I  have 
loved  no  beast  as  much  as  you.  Goodbye,  Fairfax!  My 
faithful  dog  and  watch;  goodbye  Mo'ns,  my  black  cat! 
Goodbye,  my  oxen,  my  sheep,  my  hogs,  and  thanks  for 
good  Company  and  for  every  day  I  have  known  you. 
Goodbye—  Ah!  Now  I  can  say  nothing  more,  I  am  so 
weak  and  helpless. 

(Falls  over  and  remains  lying.) 

Judge— It  works  well;  the  drugged  liquor  has  al- 
ready done  its  work;  he  sleeps  like  a  stone.  Now 
hang  him  up;  but  see  to  it  that  he  receives  no  injury 
from  it,  and  that  the  rope  comes  only  under  his  arms. 
Now  we  shall  see  how  he  acts  when  he  awakes  and 
finds  himself  hanging  aloft. 


46  JEPPE  ON  THE  HILL. 


ACT  y. 

Scene  1. 
Mile.    Jeppe.    Judge. 

(Jeppe  is  represented  hanging  on  a  gallows.) 

Mile  (tears  her  hair,  beats  her  breast,  and  cries)  — 
Oh!  Oh!  Is  it  possible  that  I  shall  see  my  husband 
hanging  on  a  gallows!  Ah,  my  dearest  husband! 
Forgive  me  if  I  have  ever  done  anything  to  harm  you. 
Oh,  oh!  Now  my  conscience  awakes;  now  I  am  sorry, 
but  too  late,  that  I  have  treated  you  so  mean;  now  I 
begin  to  miss  you,  now  I  can  see  what  an  excellent 
husband  I  have  lost!  Oh!  Oh,  -if  I  could  only  bring 
you  back:  from  death,  even  at  the  cost  of  my  own  life 
and   blood. 

(Wipes  her  eyes  and  weeps  bitterly.  In  the  mean- 
time the  effects  of  the  sleep-producing  drink  have  worn 
off,  and  Jeppe  wakes  and  sees  himself  hanging  on  a 
gallows  with  his  hands  tied  behind  his  back;  he  hears 
his  wife  sobbing  and  speaks  to  her.) 

Jeppe — Don't  feel  bad,  my  darling  wife!  We  must 
all  go  this  way  sometime.  Go  home  and  take  care  of  the 
house  and  look  after  my  children.  My  red  coat  can 
be  made  over  for  little  Christian,  and  what  is  left 
Martha  may  have  for  a  cap.  But,  before  all  else,  see 
to  it  that  my  dappled  horse  is  well  taken  care  of,  for 
I  loved  that  beast  as  if  he  was  my  own  brother.  If  I 
wasn't  dead  I'd  tell  you  a  number  of  other  things. 

Nille— Oh— Oh— Oh—  What  is  that?  What  do  I  hear? 
Can  a  dead  man  speak? 

Jeppe — Do  not  fear,  Nille;   I  won't  hurt  you. 

Mile— Ah,  my  dearest  husband,  how  can  you  speak 
when  you  are   dead? 

Jeppe — I  don't  know  how  it  is  myself.  But  listen, 
dear  wife.  Run  like  a  streak  and  bring  me  eight  pence 
worth  of  whiskey,  for  I  am  more  thirsty  now  than  when 
I  was  alive. 

Mile  —Fie!  You  beast!  You  rascal!  You  old  sot! 
Didn't  you  drink  whiskey  enough  while  you  were  alive? 
Are  you  still  thirsty,  you  dog,  now  that  you  are  dead? 
You're  vhat  I  call  a  regular  hog! 


JEPPE  ON  THE  HILL.  47 

Jeppe — Hold  your  tongue,  you  scold,  and  fetch  the 
whiskey.  If  you  don't  do  that  I'll  be  hanged  if  I  won't 
haunt  die  house  every  night.  You  must  know  that  I'm 
not  afraid  of  Master  Erik  any  more,  for  I  don't  feeP^ 
thrashings  now.  (Nille  runs  to  the  house  after  Master 
Erik,  returns  and  thrashes  him  on  the  gallows.)  Ou — 
Ou— Ouch!  Stop,  Nille!  Stop!  You  might  kill  me 
again,     Ou — Ou — Ouch! 

Judge  (interferes) — Look  here,  woman,  you  must  not 
strike  him  any  more.  Be  content;  we  will,  for  your 
sake,  forgive  your  husband  his  offense,  and  sentence 
him  to  life  again. 

ZVille — Ah,  no,  gracious  lord!  Just  let  him  hang, 
for  he  is  not  worth  the  trouble. 

Judge — Fie!  You  are  a  wicked  woman!  Get  out  of 
here  quickly  or  we  shall  hang  you  up  beside  him.  (Nille 
runs  out.) 

Scene  2. 

Jeppe.    The  Court. 

(Jeppe  is  being  taken  down  from  the  gallows.) 

Jeppe — Ah,  your  honor!  Is  it  certain  that  I  am  quite 
alive  agiin  or  am  I  a  ghost? 

Judgo — You  are  quite  alive;  for  the  court  which 
can  sentence  you  to  death  can  also  sentence  you  to  life. 
Can't  you  understand  that? 

Jeppe — No,  I  don't  understand  it,  but  I  believe  I  am 
still    a   ghost. 

Judge — Ah,  you  fool!  That  is  easy  to  see.  He  who 
takes  a  thing  from  you  can  certainly  give  it  back  to 
you. 

Jeppe — May  I  then  try  to  hang  the  judge,  just  for 
fun,  and  see  if  I  can  sentence  him  to  life  again  later? 

Judge — No,  that  won't  do;   for  you  are  no  judge. 

Jeppe — But  am  I  then  alive  again? 

Judge — Yes,  you  are. 

Jeppe — So  that  I'm  not  a  ghost? 

Judge — Certainly  not! 

Jeppe — Nor  a  spirit? 

Judge — No. 


48  JEPPE  ON  THE  HILL. 

Jeppe— Am  I  then  the  same  Jeppe  on  the  Hill  that 
I  was  before? 

Judg3 — To  be  sure! 

Jeppe — And  not  a  spectre? 

Judg"-3 — No,  of  course  not. 

Jeppe — Will  you  swear  that  it  is  true? 

Judgo — I  swear  that  you  are  alive. 

Jeppe — Will  you  cross  your  heart  and  hope  to  die  if 
it  isn't  true? 

Judge — You  should  believe  what  we  say  without 
question,  and  thank  us  that  we  have  been  so  merciful 
as  to  sentence  you  to  life  again. 

Jeppe — If  you  had  not  hanged  me  yourselves,  I  should 
have  been  glad  to  thank  you  for  taking  me  down  again. 

Judge — Be  content,  Jeppe,  and  let  us  know  when 
your  wife  beats  you  again,  and  we  shall  look  into  the 
matter.  See,  here  are  four  Rixdollars,  which  you  can 
have  a  good  time  with  for  awhile,  and  don't  forget  to 
drink  our  health. 

(Jeppe  kisses  his  hand  and  thanks  him.  The  judge 
goes  away.) 

Scene  3. 

Jeppe  (alone) — Here  I  have  lived  for  fifty  years, 
and  in  all  that  time  I  have  not  gone  through  as  much 
as  in  these  two  days.  This  is  certainly  a  queer  story, 
when  I  stop  to  think  of  it;  one  hour  a  drunken  peasant, 
another  hour  baron,  a  third  hour  peasant  again;  now 
dead,  now  alive  on  a  gallows, — which  is  the  funniest 
ol  it  all;  maybe  when  live  people  get  hanged  they  die, 
and  when  dead  people  get  hanged  they  come  to  life 
again.  I  guess  that  a  drink  of  whiskey  would  taste 
fine  on  this.     Hey!      Jakob   Skomager,  come  out! 

Scene  4. 
Jakob  Skomager.    Jeppe 
Jakob — Welcome  back  from  town!     Did  you  get  the 
soap  for  your  wife? 

Jeppe — Ay,  you  rascal,  you  must  know  what  kind  of 
people  you  are  talking  to!  Off  with  your  cap!  for  you 
are  but  an  idiot  compared  to  a  fellow  like  me. 

Jakob — I'd  not  stand  such  words  from  anyone  else, 


JEPPE  ON  THE  HILL.  49 


Jeppe.  But  since  you  give  my  house  a  daily  penny,  I 
won't  be  too  particular. 

Jeppe — Off  with  your  cap,  you  rascal! 

Jakob — What  has  happened  to  you  on  the  way,  that 
you've  got  the  big  head? 

Jeppe — You  must  know  that  I  have  been  hanged 
since  I  ^poke  with  you  last. 

Jakob — That  is  not  so  much  to  feel  proud  about. 
I  don't  onvy  you  a  bit.  But  listen,  Jeppe,  "where  you 
have  drunk  your  beer  there  you  should  show  your 
spleen!"  You  become  drunk  at  other  places,  but  come 
into  my  house  just  to  make  a  disturbance. 

Jeppe — Quick,  off  with  your  cap,  you  rascal!  Don't 
you  hear  that  jingling  in  my  pocket? 

Jakob  (with  his  hat  under  his  arm) — Whew!  Where, 
did  you  get  that  money? 

Jeppe — Prom  my  barony,  Jakob.  I'll  tell  you  what 
has  happened  to  me,  but  give  me  a  glass  of  mead  first; 
for  I  am  too  proud  to  drink  Danish  whiskey. 

Jakob — Your  health,  Jeppe. 

Jeppe — Now  I  shall  tell  you  what  has  happened  to 
me.  When  I  left  you  I  fell  asleep;  when  I  woke  up 
again  I  was  a  baron,  and  got  drunk  again  on  canaille 
sack;  when  I  got  drunk  of  sack,  I  woke  up  on  a  dung- 
heap;  when  I  woke  up  on  the  dung-heap,  I  lay  down 
to  sleep  again,  hoping  that  I  would  again  become  a 
baron,  but  I  found  that  it  doesn't  always  go  like  that; 
for  my  wife  woke  me  up  with  Master  Erik  and  dragged 
me  in  by  the  hair  without  having  the  least  respect 
for  such  a  man  as  I  had  been.  When  I  came  into  the 
room  I  was  kicked  out  head  first,  and  saw  myself 
surrounded  by  a  lot  of  shysters,  who  sentenced  me  to 
death  and  killed  me  with  poison;  after  I  had  been 
hanged  I  came  to  life  again  and  got  four  Rixdollars. 
This  is  the  whole  story;  but  how  such  a  thing  could 
happen,  I  will  let  you  imagine. 

Jakob — Ha!      Ha!      Ha!      It's  a  dream,  Jeppe. 

Jeppe — If  I  didn't  have  these  four  Rixdollars  I'd 
think  it  was  a  dream,  too.  Give  me  another,  Jakob, 
I'll  not  think  more  of  that  foolishness  but  have  another 
good  drink. 


50  JEPPE  ON  THE  HILL. 

Jakob — Your  health,  Baron.     Ha!     Ha!     Ha! 
Jeppe — Perhaps  you  can't  understand  this,  Jakob? 
Jakob — Not  if  I  stood  on  my  head. 
Jeppe — It  might  be  true  anyway,  Jakob,  for  you  are 
a  dunce,  and  don't  understand  such  things. 

Scene  5. 

Magnus.    Jeppe.    Jakob. 

Magnus — Ha!  Ha!  Ha!  I'll  tell  you  a  confounded 
story  about  a  man  called  Jeppe  on  the  Hill,  who 
was  found  drunk  and  sleeping  in  the  field, — his  clothes 
were  changed,  and  he  was  laid  in  the  best  bed  on 
the  estate.  He  was  made  to  believe  that  he  was  the 
Baron,  fhen  they  made  him  drunk  again,  and  put  him 
back  on  the  dung-heap.  When  he  woke  up,  he  imagined 
that  he  had  been  in  paradise.  I  laughed  till  I  almost 
died  when  I  heard  that  story  from  the  overseer's  men. 
I  would  give  a  Rixdollar  if  I  could  get  a  chance  to 
see  the  fool.    Ha,  ha,  ha! 

Jeppe — How  much  do  I  owe,  Jakob? 

Jakob — Twelve  pence. 

(Jeppe  wipes  his  mouth  and  goes  away  very  much 
ashamed.) 

Magnus — Why  did  that  man  leave  so  suddenly? 

Jakob — That  is  the  very  person  on  whom  the  trick 
was  played. 

Magnus — Is  it  possible?  Then  I  must  hurry  after 
him.  Hold  on,  Jeppe!  One  word  more.  How  is  every- 
thing getting  along  in  the  other  world? 

Jeppe — Let  me  go  in  peace. 

Magnus— Why  didn't  you  stay  there  longer? 

Jeppe— Is  that  any  of  your  business? 

Magnus— Ay,  tell  us  something  about  your  journey. 

Jeppe— Let  me  go,  I  tell  you;  or  I  shall  do  some- 
thing to  you. 

Magnus — Ay,  Jeppe,  I  am  so  anxious  to  find  out 
something  about  it. 

Jeppe— Jakob  Skomager!  Help!  Will  you  let  people 
be  attacked  in  your  house? 

Magnas— I  am  doing  you  no  harm,  Jeppe.  I  only  ask 
what  you  saw  in  the  other  world. 


JEPPE  ON  THE  HILL.  51 

Jeppe— Hey!     Help!     Help! 

Magnus — Did  you  see  any  of  my  ancestors  there? 

Jeppe — No,   your   ancestors   must  be   in    the    other 
place,  wnere  I  hope  you  and  other  rascals  will  go  when 
you  die.     (Struggles  with  Magnus  and  gets  away.) 
Scene  6. 
Baron.    His  secretary.    Valet.    Two  lackeys. 

Baron — Ha,  ha,  ha!  That  joke  is  worth  a  good  deal; 
I  had  not  thought  that  it  would  have  had  such  good 
effect.  If  you  can  amuse  me  as  well  again,  Erik,  you 
shall  staad  very  high  in  my  regard. 

Erik — No,  gracious  lord,  I  dare  not  risk  such  comedy 
again;  for  if  he  had  struck  my  lord,  as  he  threatened 
to  do,   there  might  have  been  a  terrible  tragedy. 

Baron — That  is,  by  my  faith,  true  enough.  I  myself 
feared  it  somewhat,  but  I  was  so  interested  in  the  out- 
ccme  that  I  would  rather  have  allowed  myself  to  be 
struck, — yes,  I  believe  I  would  rather  have  allowed  my- 
self to  be  hanged  by  him,  Erik,  than  to  have  given  the 
story  away.     You  were  probably  of  the  same  mind. 

Erik — No,  my  lord!  It  would  i>e  rather  strange 
to  allow  one's  self  to  be  hanged  in  jest,  for  that  pleasure 
would  be  too  costly. 

Baron — Ay!  Such  things  happen  every  day.  If  not 
in  that  manner,  then  in  some  other,  do  people  lose 
their  lives  through  some  jest.  For  example,  if  a  man 
has  a  weak  will  and  knows  that  he  is  likely  to  lose 
both  life  and  health  from  too  much  drink,  still  he  is 
likely  to  overtask  his  strength  and  risk  both  for  the 
sake  of  an  evening's  pleasure.  I  am  convinced,  Erik, 
that  it  would  have  been  better  if  you  had  allowed  your- 
self to  be  hanged  rather  than  to  have  spoiled  such  a 
splendid  comedy. 


bRVF 


;  VSL 


